US legalization is aiming at providing aid to its European allies to prevent telecom gear from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. The push is gaining momentum as more representatives signed on as cosponsors and a Senate version was recently introduced.
According to an SCMP report, Democratic representatives Ted Lieu of California and Brad Schneider of Illinois have now joined 30 other cosponsors of the Transatlantic Telecommunications Security Act earlier this week. This would allow the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to identify projects from central and eastern Europe (including regions like Austria and Greece to Ukraine and Moldova) and to offer support to their respective agencies.
The bill states that “the United States has national security and economic interests in assisting central and eastern European countries to improve the security of their telecommunications networks by reducing dependence on covered telecommunications equipment or services that are often offered with predatory economic inducements, and replacing them with secure telecommunications equipment or services.” For those unaware, Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE have been facing increasing friction in the west. Furthermore, the US has been pressurizing its allies to avoid low cost gear from the two firms.
Now, the latest move seeks to warn the central and eastern Europe against China’s attempt “to undermine” their sovereignty. The two senators added that “The US has pushed countries to ban Huawei infrastructure, but … has not offered support to countries who cannot afford other infrastructure. The [Transatlantic Telecommunication Security Act] would provide financing to European allies who are most vulnerable to low-cost options like Huawei, and it would expand the number of countries that DFC can invest in, helping them modernize digital infrastructure.”
RELATED:
- Huawei employee reveals that HarmonyOS 3 is arriving soon
- Huawei Mall simplifies traditional logistics processes and delivers them in up to 30 minutes
- Huawei to launch new 4G phone with Kirin 9000 SoC while its chip stock runs dry
Comments