AFPI Urges FCC to Strengthen Telecom Security, Block Chinese Influence

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Piero Tozzi, AFPI’s Senior Director of China Policy, submitted a public comment to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the adoption of rules that would strengthen U.S. telecommunication security by phasing out recognition of telecom equipment test labs, Telecommunications Certification Bodies, and accreditation bodies located in, or operating out of, countries that lack a mutual recognition or comparable reciprocal trade agreement with the United States. Such entities operating outside the reach of enforceable U.S. jurisdiction mean that certifications cannot be reliably tested or corrected, weakening our telecommunications security.

“Telecommunications are vital American infrastructure, and we should not outsource telecom equipment testing and certification to companies subject to Communist China’s jurisdiction,” said Tozzi. “Under China’s National Intelligence Law and Data Security Law, the Chinese government can force Chinese companies—including U.S.-based subsidiaries—to turn over sensitive data, giving our greatest designated ‘Foreign Adversary’ access to nonpublic technical information about American products before they reach the market. This also exposes U.S. innovators to intellectual property theft—a longstanding pattern and practice in Communist China.”

AFPI supports policy reforms that protect America’s telecommunications and critical infrastructure and supply chains from the national security threat posed by Communist China.

Read the full comment here.