APT, Tencent & Trump, page-18

US Bill Against Chinese Espionage

In the United States, republican senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced on April 30 they would be introducing a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using tech platforms that are subject to influence by the CCP.

It would require an annual list of technology companies be compiled and submitted to Congress. The companies would be those believed to be “subject to influence or control” by the Chinese regime.

The Countering Chinese Attempts at Snooping Act of 2020 would ban officials from conducting business over any social media, smartphone application, and telecommunications technology that are “produced, operated, or hosted” by companies on the list.

The bill identified five Chinese tech companies Tencent, Huawei, ZTE, Alibaba, and Baidu. It recognises these companies will assist the CCP to engage in espionage via their products and gain “insight into the profiles, activity, or location of foreign users.”

In 2017, the Chinese regime introduced the national intelligence law that mandated private companies in China must “support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work.” The implied power allows authorities to access data from China-based companies.

Sen. Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during a Senate Judiciary hearing about sanctuary jurisdictions, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 22, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Senator Cruz said, “Companies like Tencent and Huawei are espionage operations for the Chinese Communist Party, masquerading as telecom companies for the 21st century.”

Senator Hawley called Tencent “a glorified surveillance arm of the Chinese Communist Party.”