House intelligence committee advises US companies to avoid Huawei and ZTE

Huawei ZTE

The House intelligence committee spent 11 months investigating Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE and concluded that the two firms pose a threat to US security, says a report in the Wall Street Journal. At the heart of this issue is whether ZTE and Huawei would give the Chinese government backdoor access to its US-bought mobile phones and networking equipment. China could then spy  on US citizens and possibly sabotage key US networking resources.

The House committee report claims ZTE and Huawei did not provide enough detailed evidence to alleviate the committee’s concerns. House intelligence committee chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) said, “We simply cannot trust such vital systems to companies with known ties to the Chinese state, a country that is the largest perpetrator of cyberespionage against the U.S.”

This report comes at a bad time for ZTE and Huawei, both of which are successful in the Asia-Pacific area and want to expand their operations in the US.

[Via Wall Street Journal]

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