Your Computer, Your Phone, & Those Solar Panels Are Chinese Agents
America's Internet Infrastructure Is Riddled with Chinese Spy Tech. Here's How...
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Nathan Simington warns that Huawei’s infiltration of rural American Internet networks has turned them into potential “pain points” for national security. In an interview, Simington outlined how the Chinese telecom giant embedded its low-cost equipment in rural broadband infrastructure, particularly in regions surrounding sensitive U.S. military installations.
Though Congress passed a 2019 mandate requiring the removal of Huawei hardware from U.S. networks, lawmakers failed to fund the effort for years. The required $4.98 billion wasn’t approved until December—leaving a dangerous gap in which Chinese components remained active in vital communication systems across the country.
“You probably saw last week that we found undisclosed communications equipment in some Chinese-made solar panels,” Simington said. “The solar panels have the ability to phone home just like E.T.… At a certain point, you have to ask yourself, what isn’t phoning home?”
The FCC’s “rip and replace” initiative was originally projected to cost $1.9 billion. Simington now places the estimate at $5.6 billion, a staggering overrun he sees as the inevitable cost of relying on “cheap” solutions offered by the Chinese Communist Party’s tech arms. “There’s nothing as expensive as a cheap product,” he said.
Huawei’s predatory pricing strategy—offering razor-thin financing terms like zero percent interest for up to 60 years—effectively locked in small rural telecom companies operating on the margins. “Huawei had a great business… because the first hit is free…
I think blaming the Chinese for the infiltration into our communications is a diversionary tactic. Uncle sam has been deep in our shorts for decades, and they’re the ones who will take us down with our own words, not the Chinese. Our adversaries live in DC, not Beijing.