Three Chinese Senate figures have called on President Joe Biden’s candidate to head the Commerce Department to clarify whether he will remove Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies from its commercial blacklist under any circumstances.
The message comes from Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Ben Sacy and Tom Cotton after Rhode Island Governor Gina Raymondo sparked outrage among Chinese hawks by pledging to protect US telecommunications networks from Chinese companies, but has refused to commit to keeping Huawei on the list. .
“We ask that you respond in writing to your opinion if you foresee a scenario in which, if your appointment as secretary is confirmed, remove Huawei … from the list of entities”, or relax the rules governing its access to 5G technology , the senators wrote in the letter released Friday.
They warned that “the business has not changed with the presidency of the United States”.
The message is a sign of growing pressure from Capitol Hill for President Joe Biden to take a hard line on Beijing. The Biden team generally avoided clear political commitments on China before taking office earlier this month, but vowed to maintain a hard line while using a more strategic and multilateral approach.
Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, placed Huawei on the commercial blacklist in May 2019 and led a global campaign to persuade allies to exclude it from their 5G networks.
Washington has accused the company of being able to spy on customers, as well as of intellectual property theft and sanctions violations. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing.
White House press secretary Jane Psaki said on Wednesday that the administration would work to protect US telecommunications networks from “untrustworthy vendors” such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd who threaten national security. This gave insight into his plans for China’s largest telecommunications equipment company, long in Washington’s sights.
But the comments were not enough to appease the three senators, who raised the specter of opposition from other Commerce Department candidates if they did not stick to a tough enough tech policy against Beijing.
“It is also essential that all Commerce Department candidates follow your leadership in perceiving the dangers (of the Chinese Communist Party) and the need to obstruct or restrict (Chinese) access to American technology that could advance their ambitions endangering the interests of the United States. ” “If these candidates do not make it clear that they will adhere to these general concerns and goals, they risk facing significant opposition from Congress,” they added.
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