China Mobile USA prevented from providing international telephone services by the FCC: NPR

The Federal Communications Commission prevented a Chinese company from providing international telephone services to the United States, citing national security concerns as tensions persisted between Washington and Beijing.

According to the FCC, although it is a Delaware corporation, China Mobile USA is ultimately controlled and controlled by the Chinese government. The company filed an application in 2011 to provide international communications services.

"There is a significant risk that the Chinese government will use China Mobile to carry out activities that would seriously jeopardize national security, law enforcement and the economic interests of the United States," said the president of the United States. FCC, Ajit Pai.

"Among other things, if this application were accepted, the Chinese government could use China Mobile to operate our telephone network to increase intelligence gathering against US government agencies and other sensitive targets that depend on this. network."

China Mobile USA does not provide domestic services in the United States, said an FCC spokesman.

Had the request been accepted, the company could have connected to the US network with better access to telephone lines, cellular networks, fiber optic cables and communication satellites, increasing the risk of surveillance, degradation and disruption of communications.

In 2018, the US Department of Commerce contacted the company and the US intelligence community before recommending the rejection of the application. Last month, the FCC announced its intention to implement this recommendation in a draft decision.

Thursday's announcement came after a unanimous vote of FCC Republican and Democratic Commissioners (vote 5: 5).

After the vote, Pai said the agency is also reviewing the licenses previously granted to two other Chinese companies, China Telecom and China Unicom.

China Mobile USA is a subsidiary of China Mobile Limited, which did not immediately respond to NPR's comment request.

Lawyers representing China Mobile USA said the decision to reject the company's request was "more guided by the tensions in bilateral relations between the United States and China than by the lack of solutions." effective mitigation ".

The refused application is the latest indication of a widening gap between the United States and China. In the midst of a trade war, the Trump administration insisted that the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei had ties to the government and that its equipment could be used to spy on people or commit economic espionage .

Congress banned government agencies and contractors from buying Huawei equipment, prompting Huawei to sue the US government.

Reuters announced that President Trump had been planning for more than a year to pass a decree preventing US companies from using equipment manufactured by Huawei and its competitor ZTE.

In March, US authorities warned their allies in Europe to ban Huawei's 5G communications networks or risk receiving less information from US agencies. Germany has refused to exclude the company.

Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, denied the alleged links with the Chinese intelligence services and said the company would refuse to ask the authorities to share information about his clients.

A spokesman for the FCC told NPR that the property of China Mobile USA belonged to the China Mobile Communications Corporation, which is "subject to the oversight of the Supervisory Board and the Administration of the assets belonging to the company." 39 "state", part of the Chinese government administered by the State Council.