Washington DC [US], April 26 : The House Select Committee on China has issued subpoenas to three major Chinese state-owned telecom companiesChina Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicomafter they failed to respond to a bipartisan request for information sent on March 4.
According to the House Select Committee on China, the subpoenas, requiring a response by May 7, 2025, are part of an ongoing congressional investigation into whether these companies are still operating in the United States in ways that may endanger national security and compromise Americans' data privacy.
Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has already banned all three firms from offering licensed telecom services in the US, there are growing concerns, based on public and intelligence reports, that they may still be operating through equipment, software, or cloud services within the country. These activities could potentially pose serious threats to US national security, as cited by the House Committee on China.
Committee Chairman John Moolenaar emphasised the risk, stating," These companies were blocked from US networks because of their direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The American people deserve to know if Beijing is quietly using state-owned firms to infiltrate our critical infrastructure.
The CCP's refusal to play by the rulesand these companies' refusal to provide basic transparencyis unacceptable. Congress will not stand idly by while the Chinese government exploits loopholes to threaten our national security."
Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi echoed the concern, adding, "China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom don't just threaten US national securitythey've also blatantly defied a lawful congressional investigation. With these bipartisan subpoenas, they now face a clear choice: comply with the law or face the consequences. As the Chinese Communist Party wages aggressive cyberattacks and undermines Americans' privacy, we will accept nothing less than full compliance. Chinese state-owned entities are not above the law."
The Committee is currently probing whether the companies are running network Points of Presence (PoPs), data centres, or cloud operations in the US, and what potential dangers these may pose. The move reflects a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress about the risks associated with foreign state-controlled enterprises, especially those linked to intelligence services.
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