Rating: All telecoms vendors use parts made in China
One of China’s two leading telecommunications suppliers targeted by the US House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee,
ZTE, has responded vigorously to a directive that US businesses should avoid trading with the company as well as Huawei Technologies. The Committee has also directed that US government computer systems should not include any components from either of the two firms. The reason given is that both may free of state influence [from the Chinese government]. TE points out that, “Virtually all of the telecom infrastructure equipment now sold in the USA and throughout the world contains components made, in whole or in part, in China.” It also willingly admits that any company in China could be influenced by the Chinese government.It does seem more than a little unfair that ZTE and Huawei have been singled out by the committee when telecommunications equipment provided to the USA by Western companies blatantly includes parts manufactured by Chinese workers.
ZTE isn’t even a major supplier of telecoms infrastructure equipment to the US market in the first place.
Sales of ZTE’s telecom infrastructure equipment in the USA comprised less than $30 million in revenue in 2011.
By comparison, two Western vendors, alone in the same year provided the US market with $14 billion worth of equipment.
Most of the equipment sold by almost every Western vendor in the USA has components made by Chinese joint venture partners and suppliers.
David Dai Shu, ZTE’s director of global public affairs, is clearly angry that “The Committee has not challenged ZTE’s fitness to serve the US market based on any pattern of unethical or illegal behaviour.”
He also points out that, “The Committee focused its examination too narrowly on vendor locations not on equipment security.”
GoMobile News feels it’s as if the Security Committee has woken up one morning and suddenly remembered that China is still officially a Communist state.
This publication has visited ZTE in China and would recommend that these US politicians do the same thing. They wouldn’t be worried then.
You can read ZTE’s full response to the Committee here.
