An influential US lawmaker on Thursday welcomed reports that President Joe Biden’s administration was investigating TP-Link, a Chinese network equipment manufacturer that controls more than 60 per cent of the American Wi-fi router market.
“The recently announced federal investigations into this company are a step in the right direction,” said Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and chairman of the House Select Committee on China Competition.
He expressed hope that the “executive branch will take action to protect our country”, adding that, “In the meantime, Americans would be wise to stop buying TP-Link equipment.”
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The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was investigating Shenzhen-based TP-Link over security concerns and possible ties to Chinese cyberattacks.
The BIS, which is an agency of the US Commerce Department, has subpoenaed the company and may ban its devices. The US Departments of Defence and Justice are conducting separate inquiries, with the Justice Department investigating whether TP-Link is selling products below cost.
The BIS and Justice Department declined to confirm or deny the investigation. A Pentagon official said that while the department had no statement or information to provide on the specific case, “we seek to adhere to all regulations concerning the acquisition of equipment that may contain foreign components”.
A spokeswoman for TP-Link said the company welcomed any opportunities to “demonstrate that our security practices are fully in line with industry security standards”.
The Chinese embassy in Washington condemned the reported action, urging the US to “stop broadening the concept of national security and cease the abuse of national power to suppress Chinese companies”.
“The US has frequently used national power under the guise of ‘national security’ to unjustly suppress non-US companies, which violates market principles and constitutes blatant bullying. China firmly opposes this,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said.
He added that China would “continue to resolutely defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies”.
The potential ban is part of an effort in Washington to scrutinise and reduce reliance on Chinese technology companies in critical US infrastructure, driven by concerns that Beijing could use it to launch cyberattacks.
TP-Link is the top-selling router brand on Amazon. As of this month, one of its models ranks No 1 in the “Best Sellers in Computer Routers” category.
Moolenaar said on Thursday that he had previously raised national security concerns about the possibility of the Chinese Communist Party using millions of TP-Link routers to collect data on Americans.
In August, he and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois and the ranking member of the House Select China Committee, sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that urged an investigation into TP-Link.
“When combined with the [Chinese] government’s widespread use of routers like TP-Link to carry out extensive cyberattacks in the United States, it becomes deeply alarming,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that the company could be “forced to hand over sensitive US information by Chinese intelligence officials”.
In October, American tech giant Microsoft released an analysis saying that TP-Link routers accounted for the majority of compromised devices in a Chinese “password spraying” attack, which it described as “nation-state threat actor activity”.
Recent reports of suspected China-linked cyberattacks, by a group called Salt Typhoon, targeting eight American telecoms giants have only intensified efforts to examine Chinese firms.
A White House official confirmed this month that Chinese hackers had breached eight domestic telecoms and internet service providers.
Given the security concerns, the US Congress on Wednesday approved US$3 billion as part of the defence budget to remove Chinese equipment from networks nationwide.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday called the recent breaches a “very, very serious matter” that was “still going on”, emphasising that it was a “very sophisticated hack” that did not occur “overnight”.
Meanwhile, Republican Party members, including those who will be serving in president-elect Donald Trump’s administration starting on January 20, have called for an “offensive” strategy against Chinese hackers.
“We have been, over the years, trying to play better and better defence when it comes to cyber,” said Representative Mike Waltz of Florida, whom Trump has chosen as his national security adviser.
“We need to start going on offence and start imposing, I think, higher costs and consequences to private actors and nation state actors that continue to steal our data, that continue to spy on us.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- US probes TP-Link, the China-founded router maker dominating the American market
- With China in sights, US plans curb on countries’ advanced semiconductor access: sources
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