Huawei, ZTE 'cannot be trusted' and pose security threat - US attorney general

HuaweiTechnologies Co andZTECorp "cannot be trusted,"US AttorneyGeneralWilliam Barr said, labelling the Chinese firms asecuritythreatas he backed a proposal to barU.S. rural wireless carriers from tapping an $8.5 billion (£6.64 billion) government fund to purchase equipment or services from them.

The Federal Communications Commission will vote on November22 and is proposing requiring the carriers to remove and replace equipment from the companies. Barr said in a letter to the FCC released on Thursday that "their own track record, as well as the practices of the Chinese government, demonstrate thatHuaweiandZTEcannot be trusted."

He added that "we should not signal thatHuaweiandZTEare anything other than athreatto our collectivesecurity, for that is exactly what they, through their actions, have shown themselves to be."

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HuaweiandZTEdid not immediately comment.

Barr noted that federal prosecutors chargedHuaweiwith violations of theUS embargo on Iran, bank fraud, obstruction of justice and trade secret theft.ZTEpleaded guilty in 2017 to illegally send approximately $32 million inUS goods to Iran.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the commission "cannot ignore the risk that the Chinese government will seek to exploit network vulnerabilities in order to engage in espionage, insert malware and viruses, and otherwise compromise our critical communications networks."

The move is the latestUS action aimed at barringUScompanies from purchasingHuaweiandZTEequipment.Huaweisaid last week that "in 30 years of business,Huaweihas never had a majorsecurity-related incident in the 170 countries where we operate."

TheUSgovernment addedHuaweito its economic blacklist in May, saying the Chinese company was involved in activities contrary toUS nationalsecurity.

The United States has pressed nations not to grantHuaweiaccess to 5G networks and allegedHuawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for spying, which the Chinese company has repeatedly denied. Several European countries in recent months have not agreed to barHuawei, despiteUS pressure.

In May,US President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order declaring a national emergency and barringUScompanies from using telecommunications equipment made by companies posing a nationalsecurityrisk. The order directed the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, to draw up an enforcement plan by mid-October. The Commerce Department has yet to publish a plan.