Wendell Minnick via FlickrEight Republican senators have taken on China’s electronic firm Huawei, the alter ego of the US giant Cisco. The eight accuse Huawei in a letter of US departments of having ties with Iran, the Taliban and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), writes Wendell Minnick in Defense News:
China’s largest networking and telecommunications equipment provider, Huawei is looking to bid for subcontracts offered by Sprint Nextel, a supplier to the Pentagon and U.S. law enforcement agencies. The Chinese firm’s effort is being spearheaded by Amerilink Telecom, a Kansas-based company whose chairman is retired U.S. Navy Adm. William Owens. The former vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned in his 2000 book about a rising military threat from Beijing, but more recently has developed business ties with Chinese firms.
If Huawei wins, it could “present a case of a company, acting at the direction of and funded by the Chinese military, taking a critical place in the supply chain of the U.S. military, law enforcement, and private sector,” the letter says. “We are concerned that Huawei’s position as a supplier of Sprint Nextel could create substantial risk for U.S. companies and possibly undermine U.S. national security.”
The letter is yet another step in the increased military tension between China and the US, documented by Wendell Minnick for Defense News.
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Wendell Minnick is a speaker for the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
