Chinese telecom giant Huawei is being probed by the United States (US) government for allegedly spying on military bases and installations in the country, Reuters reported on Thursday. US officials told the news agency on the condition of anonymity that Washington is concerned that Huawei might have fitted cell towers across the country with equipment that could capture sensitive information from military bases.
They also acknowledged that Huawei could have shared the information gathered with the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). The Biden administration is concerned that Huawei could have obtained information on military drills, the readiness of military bases, and missile silos.
The investigation is confidential and authorities are treating it as a matter of national security.
Reuters said the probe was launched by the Commerce Department shortly after President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021. Two months later, the department subpoenaed the company to learn its policy on cell phone data sharing with foreign entities.
If the investigation concludes that Huawei poses a national security threat, authorities could ban all US transactions with the company. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could also demand all US telecom carriers that rely on Huawei’s equipment end their relationship with the company.
The Commerce Department told Reuters that while it cannot confirm or deny whether investigations are ongoing, protecting the “safety and security” of American citizens against “malign information collection” is a key priority for the US.
The Chinese embassy in Washington denied any wrongdoing by Huawei and the CPC. “The US government abuses the concept of national security and state power to go all out to suppress Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies without providing any solid proof that they constitute a security threat to the US and other countries,” it told Reuters.
Glad this is finally getting the visibility that it deserves. Excessive density of HW towers near Minuteman III silo fields has never made sense given low user base. Exclusive: U.S. probes China's Huawei over equipment near missile silos https://t.co/WtykbmqVum
— James Mulvenon (@jmulvenon) July 21, 2022
The US has previously alleged that Huawei is spying for the CPC and that its actions threaten US customers. However, authorities have provided little to no evidence to back their claims.
Huawei has also been subjected to various bans and restrictions in the US, including a ban on participating in the country’s 5G network, a ban on the US Defence Department from procuring telecommunications equipment from the company, and forcing the company to seek government approval to buy American technology.
In 2018, Canada arrested Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, at the Vancouver airport on a bank fraud warrant issued by the Donald Trump administration. American prosecutors claim that Meng misled bankers at HSBC about Huawei’s relationship with SkyCom, putting HSBC at risk of violating United States (US) sanctions against Iran. Meng was released last year.
According to reports, the Chinese government has been stepping up efforts to infiltrate US government institutions and private companies. A 2020 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) notes that from 2000 to 2020, there were at least 160 reported cases of Chinese espionage against the US and over 1,000 cases of intellectual property theft committed by Chinese entities against US companies.
The report notes that 85% of cases involved Chinese agents trying to acquire US military and commercial technologies, such as in November last year, when the Justice Department convicted a Chinese spy for attempting to steal trade secrets from American aviation and aerospace companies.
Additionally, CSIS reported that while 32% of the people involved in spying for China were private Chinese citizens, 26% were non-Chinese actors, “usually US citizens recruited by Chinese officials.” For example, in December 2021, the US convicted Harvard professor Charles Lieber for lying to the FBI regarding his work with the Chinese government and failing to disclose the salary paid to him by the Wuhan University of Technology.