U.S. Senator Ted Cruise called Huawei a “state spy agency” on Sept. 3.
Speaking at the Hudson Institute on American foreign policy his approach to national security, the Senator said that sharing intelligence with nations whose infrastructure provides a direct backdoor to Communist China is beyond foolish.
Cruz (R-Texas) said Huawei is “masquerading as a technology company.” He said China is the most important long-term geopolitical competitor of the United States and that its threat far exceeds that of Russia. He expressed particular concern about outer space and cyber-security.
Cruz also said that the United States must use all means to make it clear to its allies that they should not use Huawei equipment.
“Particularly for the Five Eyes partners, if we’re going to be sharing intelligence, sharing intelligence with nations that allow their infrastructure to have a direct backdoor to China, that is beyond foolishness,” he said, repeating concerns that were discussed during a Senate Judiciary Hearing in May.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that, due to national security concerns, the Justice Department is opposing a submarine cable project involving Google, Facebook, and a Chinese company.
The cable would connect Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
The Chinese company involved is Dr. Peng Telecom and Media Group, the fourth largest telecommunications operator in China. It has a long-term strategic partnership agreement with Huawei. If it can control the cable, the Chinese Communist Party would then have access to data, intelligence, and could monitor a large portion of the world’s internet.
In an interview with NTD, Thomas Duesterberg, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute said, “Ownership of this undersea cable, just gives them the ability to ramp up their surveillance state.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce in August extended Huawei’s temporary license to purchase products from U.S. companies by 90 days, but it also added 46 Huawei affiliates to its Entity List, making them subject to specific policies and licensing requirements for the movement of items in, out, and within the country.
Duesterberg applauded the move but said he hopes the Trump administration will not grant a waiver to these companies to try to reach a trade deal with China.
“I think that a separation between the national security concerns that we have and trade policy is a necessity,” he said. “We cannot mix up the two.”
