China Telecom operations in the US could be in jeopardy

It seems that the operations of China Telecom in the US could be in some serious trouble. According to a report from Reuters, a source tipped them off that the US Commerce Department could be looking to crack down on the company’s operations in the US. This is due to concerns that China Telecom could take American data and pass it to Beijing, China.
Not the first time
The US Commerce Department has reportedly sent the company a preliminary determination that its presence in the US, especially on US networks, could pose national security risks. They have since given China Telecom 30 days to respond. The company has also yet to respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the matter.
This is not the first time that China Telecom has found itself in the US government’s crosshairs. Back in 2021, the FCC revoked the carrier’s authorization to operate in the US. The organization claimed that this was due to national security concerns.
The presence of China Telecom in the US is not that big. This means that even if they were completely banned, it is unlikely that it would have any particularly significant financial impact. If anything, this move by the US government would be more symbolic, as some have suggested.
The company isn’t alone in allegations that its operations could be used to send American data back to China. Popular social media platform TikTok is also under similar scrutiny. This is due to the fact that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China.
Increase in cyberattacks
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in allegations of state-sponsored cyberattacks against the US from China. The most recent would be the cyberattack from a group called “Salt Typhoon”.
According to law enforcement officials, the group took advantage of the security flaws within the US telecommunications infrastructure to steal data from both individual and business users. What’s worrying is how major US telcos like AT&T and Verizon have not notified the people impacted by the data breach.
US President-Elect Donald Trump’s adviser, Rep Mike Waltz, also recently suggested that the US government needs to go on the offense against these cyberattacks.
The tensions between the US and China have been on the rise. The US government had previously sanctioned major US companies such as Huawei, resulting in the company essentially pulling itself entirely out of the US market. This later extended to other parts of the world where US allies followed suit.