美國FCC以國家安全為由吊銷中國電信美國運營執照

 Recently Yahoo New on-line reported the following:

China Telecom America’s operating licence revoked by US FCC, citing national security

South China Morning Post Robert Delaney

Tue., October 26, 2021, 10:57 a.m.·3 min read

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday voted to order China Telecom Americas to stop providing telecommunication service in the United States, citing national security concerns.

The move, announced at the start of a virtual open meeting, follows the FCC’s issuance of a “show cause” order last year to the subsidiary of one of China’s largest state-owned firms, and gives the unit 60 days to end its domestic and international service in the US. The order obliged the company to explain why the US government’s national security concerns were unfounded or risk losing its operating licence.

“China Telecom Americas’ ownership and control raised significant national security and law enforcement risks, providing opportunities for China Telecom Americas, its parent entities and the Chinese government to access, store, disrupt and/or … misroute US communications, allowing espionage and other harmful activities against the United States,” said Gabrielle Kim, a legal adviser in the telecommunications and analysis division of the FCC’s international bureau.

Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, whom President Joe Biden nominated on Tuesday to permanently fill the post, said in the hearing that the Chinese company “has not been forthright in its representations” to the agency.

The FCC “has a long history of working to open American markets to foreign telecommunications companies when doing so is in the public interest”, she said. “We recognise that not every connection is consistent with the national security interest of the United States.”

“Some countries may seek to exploit our openness to advance their own national interests,” Rosenworcel said, citing directives from the departments of State, Defence and Commerce, as well as the Office of the US Trade Representative last year to terminate China Telecom’s US operations.

“When we recognise this is the case and cannot mitigate the risk, we need to take action. … This is not a decision we take lightly.”

Oversight of Chinese telecoms companies is lacking, US lawmakers find

China Telecom Americas has been operating in the US for almost 20 years. The company has said its target customers are “the more than 4 million Chinese Americans; the 2 million Chinese tourists visiting the United States annually; the 300,000 Chinese students at US colleges; and the more than 1,500 Chinese enterprises in America”.

China Unicom Americas and Pacific Networks Corp’s wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA), controlled by Chinese government investment firm Citic Group, were given “show cause” orders, separately, at the same time, and may face the same fate as China Telecom Americas, according to Rosenworcel.

“We are moving expeditiously to complete security reviews for similarly situated carriers like China Unicom and ComNet,” she said. “We have a process for revoking existing authorisations when there are national security concerns.”

“Now companies will understand the circumstances under which authorisations could be revoked and what due process is available,” she added.

Chinese telecom firms urge FCC not to block US operations

China Telecom Americas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes amid growing concerns among both political parties in Washington that Chinese companies operating in America may pose a risk to US consumers, investors and national security.

“The intertwining of the American and Chinese economies has given China‘s substantial power here in the United States,” said Representative Brad Sherman, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets.

“It really hasn’t given America any power, political power, in Beijing.”

Translation

美國聯邦通信委員會（FCC）週二投票決定，以國家安全為由，命令中國電信美洲公司 (China Telecom Americas) 停止在美國提供電信服務。

此舉是在一次綱上公開會議開始時宣布的，此前美國聯邦通信委員會去年向中國最大的國有企業之一的子公司發布了“展示原因”命令，並給它 60 天的時間結束其國內和在美國提供國際服務。該命令在法例上給該公司指出為什麼美國政府的國家安全擔憂是毫無根據，否則它可能會失去其經營許可證。

美國聯邦通信委員會國際局電信和分析部門的法律顧問 Gabrielle Kim 說: “中國電信美洲公司的所有權和控制權帶來了重大的國家安全和執法風險，為中國電信美洲公司、其母公司和中國政府提供了進入、存儲、中斷和/或……誤導美國通信，從方便間諜和其他有害美國的活動” 。

美國聯邦通信委員會代理主席Jessica Rosenworcel被總統喬·拜登（Joe Biden）提名永久填補這一職位，在周二的聽證會上她表示，這家中國公司“在向該機構提出的陳述中並不坦率”。

她說，美國聯邦通信委員會“長期以來一直致力於在符合公共利益的情況下向外國電信公司開放美國市場”。 “我們認識到，並非所有聯繫都符合美國的國家安全利益。”                                      

Rosenworcel說： “一些國家可能會尋求利用我們的開放性來推進自己的國家利益，” 她引用了國務院、國防部和商務部以及美國貿易代表辦公室去年終止中國電信在美國業務的指示。

“當我們認識到這種情況並且無法降低風險時，我們需要採取行動 ......, 這不是我們掉以輕心的決定。”

美國立法者發現缺乏對中國電信公司的監管

中國電信美洲公司已在美國運營近 20 年。該公司曾表示，其目標客戶是“超過 400 萬華裔美國人；每年訪問美國的200萬中國遊客；美國大學的30萬中國學生；以及1500多家在美中國企業”。

中國政府投資公司中信集團控股的中國聯通美洲公司, 和太平洋網絡公司的全資子公司 ComNet (USA) 分別接到了“展示原因” 指令，並根據Rosenworcel的說法, 可能面臨與中國電信美洲公司相同的命運。

她說:“我們正在迅速採取行動，完成對中國聯通和 ComNet 等類似運營商的安全審查”; “當存在國家安全問題時，我們有一個撤銷現有授權的程序” 。

她補充說: “現在，這些公司將了解在何種情況下可以被撤銷授權，以及有哪些法律程序可以申辯 ” 。

中國電信公司敦促FCC不要阻止美國業務

中國電信美洲公司沒有立即回應置評請求。

 盛頓兩政黨越來越擔心在美國經營的中國公司可能對美國消費者、投資者和國家安全構成風險。

与會的加州民主黨眾議員Brad Sherman, 亦是眾議院金融服務投資者保護、創業和資本市場小組委員會主席說:“美國和中國經濟的交織令中國在美國有巨大力量” 。

“這沒有真正給美國在北京任何力量、政治權力。”

              So, the FCC votes to order China Telecom Americas to stop providing telecommunication service in the United States. I agree with the observation made by Brad Sherman that the intertwining of the American and Chinese economies has given China substantial power in the United States, and that the trading relation really hasn’t given America any political power in Beijing. I also agree with Rosenworcel’s observation that some countries may seek to exploit US’s openness to advance their own national interests. On example that I can cite is that China is free to sponsor Chinese TV media in the US, and can easily buy TV advertisement time to promote its image and idea. The American cannot do the same in China.