The US on Tuesday banned China Telecom Corp (中國電信) from operating in the country, citing “significant” national security concerns.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered China Telecom Americas Corp to discontinue its services within 60 days, ending nearly 20 years of operations in the US.
The firm’s “ownership and control by the Chinese government raise significant national security and law enforcement risks,” the FCC said in a statement.
It gives opportunities for Beijing “to access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute US communications, which in turn allow them to engage in espionage and other harmful activities against the United States,” it said.
“The FCC’s decision
MORE SCRUTINY? The US move ‘seems to dampen previous hopes that the US-China relations may be turning for the better,’ IG Asia’s Yeap Jun Rong said/ AFP, WASHINGTON