- The U.S. FCC has added Pacific Network Corp and China Unicom Operations Limited to the national security threat list.
- FCC stated that these companies are subject to the exploitation, influence, and control of the Chinese government.
- The list also includes Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, AO Kaspersky Lab, China Mobile International USA, and China Telecom (Americas).
The Federal Communications Commission and Homeland Security Bureau added equipment and services from Pacific Network and its subsidiary ComNet and China Unicom Operations Limited to the list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security. According to the announcement, these companies are subject to the exploitation, influence, and control of the Chinese government.
Espionage operations
The FCC also stated that these companies can be forced by the government to intercept and misroute communications. According to the announcement, the equipment and services of these companies can be used to carry out espionage operations to gather intelligence data from the country by the Chinese government.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Defense confirmed that the Executive Branch’s views these companies as posing “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons” under section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The list also includes Huawei Technologies Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, AO Kaspersky Lab, China Mobile International USA, and China Telecom (Americas). All these companies are added since 12 March 2022.