According to Reuters, outgoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai warned in a recent interview that potential Chinese espionage and threats to U.S. telecommunications networks and Internet freedoms will be the biggest national security issue facing U.S. regulators in the next four years.
He noted that China’s “extensive” activities are of concern, including surveillance, economic espionage and the potential planting of malware on networks in the United States or around the world, leading to potentially serious consequences when unsecured devices are used to handle sensitive information.
In particular, Pai emphasized that the Chinese Communist Party has a very strong world view and wants to dominate Internet space and impose its will – even beyond its borders. This poses a serious threat not only to Internet freedom, but also to the national security of the United States and many of its allies.
As of today, the Federal Communications Commission has revoked the authorization of China Telecom, China’s largest telecommunications company, to operate in the United States out of concern that China is using network equipment for espionage; network equipment made by huawei, ZTE, and others has been banned from federal telecommunications equipment procurement. The U.S. Congress also approved a special appropriation late last year to cover the cost of replacing Chinese equipment in U.S. communications networks.
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