Gina Raimondo, nominated for US President-elect Joe Biden as Secretary of Commerce, speaks at an event to announce members of Biden’s business and employment team at its transitional headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, January 8 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Three Chinese employees in the Senate are asking Presidential candidate Joe Biden to lead the Commerce Department to clarify whether it will remove Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies from the commercial blacklist under any circumstances.
Letter from Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Ben Sasse and Tom Cotton comes after Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s candidate sparked outrage among Chinese hawks as he vowed to protect U.S. telecommunications networks from Chinese companies, but refused. to commit to keeping Huawei on the list. .
“We ask you to respond in writing with your point of view if you anticipate any scenario in which, if you have been confirmed as secretary, … remove Huawei … from the list of entities” or relax the rules governing access to technology 5G, the senators wrote in the letter published on Friday.
“The company has not changed with the US presidency,” they warned.
The letter is a sign of growing pressure on Capitol Hill for President Joe Biden to take a heavy line on Beijing. The Biden team has generally moved away from clear political commitments to China before taking office earlier this month, but has promised to maintain a strong stance, while using a more strategic and multilateral approach.
Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, blacklisted Huawei in May 2019 and led a global campaign to persuade the Allies to exclude it from their 5G networks.
Washington has accused the company of being able to spy on customers, as well as stealing intellectual property and violating sanctions. Huawei has denied the wrongdoing.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the administration will work to protect U.S. telecommunications networks from “trusted vendors,” such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, which threatens national security. This provided some insight into his plans for the longest-running Chinese telecommunications equipment company in Washington.
But the comments were not enough to soothe the three senators, who have raised the specter of opposition to other Commerce Department nominees if they do not engage in a tough enough technology policy against Beijing.
“It is equally imperative that all those nominated to the Department of Commerce follow your lead in recognizing both the dangers (of the Chinese Communist Party) and the need to obstruct or squeeze (Chinese) access to US technology that could advance ambitions are dangerous to US interests, “they wrote.” If these nominees do not make it clear that they will adhere to these broad concerns and goals, they could face substantial opposition from Congress, “they added.