US Government Agencies Request Removal of China Telecom for National Security Reasons

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] China Telecom, a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, is facing the risk of being expelled from the United States.

According to major foreign media on the 10th, various federal departments and agencies including the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Commerce, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative requested the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the 9th (local time) to revoke China Telecom's business license in the U.S. to prevent it from providing international telephone services. Chinese telecommunications companies must connect to the U.S. telecommunications network to offer international telephone services in the U.S., but there is a risk that U.S. national security could be compromised due to espionage activities by the Chinese government.

They stated, "We have identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks related to China Telecom's operations," and added, "As a result, the FCC's authorization for China Telecom no longer serves the public interest." They also warned, "China Telecom's U.S. entity could engage in malicious cyber activities enabling communication disruption and economic espionage."

Concerns have been repeatedly raised within the U.S. that the operations of Chinese state-owned telecommunications companies could be controlled or influenced by the Chinese government, thereby threatening national security.

In September last year, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Tom Cotton sent a letter to the FCC urging a review of the business licenses of China Telecom and China Unicom in the U.S. They argued that due to national security risks, the FCC should reconsider the licenses granted to China Telecom and China Unicom in the early 2000s.

Earlier, in May last year, the FCC unanimously denied the U.S. business license of another Chinese state-owned telecommunications company, China Mobile. At that time, the FCC cited national security risks as the reason for denying the license, stating that "the Chinese government could use China Mobile to enhance intelligence gathering on U.S. government agencies."

Meanwhile, the FCC recently allowed Alphabet, Google's parent company, to use only the U.S.-Taiwan segment (12,900 km) of the undersea fiber optic cable network connecting the U.S. and Asia, but denied the segment extending to Hong Kong. The FCC pointed out that connecting the fiber optic cable network to Hong Kong would pose a serious risk to U.S. national security and legal interests.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.