Posted by Tina
The arrest last week of Wanzhou Meng, the CFO of Chinese telecom giant Huawei (wahway), became a point of contention here on PS. Apparently, in the spirit of open borders,” national security matters should be a thing of the past. I disagree.
Early reports indicated that Meng would be charged with Iran sanctions violations. But this morning it appears the arrest may have involved something more sgnificant, national security:
“…U.S. intelligence agencies have an even greater concern: that China’s largest telecom company will allow the Chinese state to monitor the electronic communications of anyone using Huawei technology.”
Americans were urged by our security officials not to use Huawei phones earlier this year. Australia banned Huawei from “assisting the development of its 5G wireless network.” In October, Senators Rubio and Warner warned the Canadian government that, “…joint intelligence activities with the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand may be curtailed if Canada allows Huawei to aid in the construction or maintenance of his nation’s 5G wireless network.”
This is a very big deal! It appears the Republican held House agreed back in 2012:
…the House Intelligence Committee released a “comprehensive report on Huawei and ZTE” that revealed the company’s less than friendly practices: “Inserting malicious hardware or software implants into Chinese-manufactured telecommunications components and systems headed for U.S. customers could allow Beijing to shut down or degrade critical national security systems in a time of crisis or war.”
So, we’ve known about these activities for some time.
Of further concern is the fact that Huawei is involved in the possible acquisition of the American company 3Com. 3Com “provides technology to the Defense Department that is designed to protect the Pentagon against cyber attacks.”
Our government failed in the past to do anything about the security and theft problems related to China and Chinese businesses. President Trump, and the strong leaders working under him, are prepared to try a different approach.
China has demanded the release of Wanzhou Meng.
Related: Former Pentagon official and national security analyst Michael Pillsbury
Gordon Chang on the stolen American technology that Huawei used to build it’s business and asserts that stolen intellectual property is at the core of China’s goal to dominate and rule the world.
TheDonald is right again!