WASHINGTON, June 9 — Unicom's United States (US) unit warned that a Trump administration proposal to prohibit American telecommunications carriers from interconnecting with Chinese telecom firms deemed national security risks could cause severe disruption to the global communications network.
In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday, China Unicom said that the proposal would "harm US companies with significant business and supply chain interests in China."
The FCC has proposed barring American and other telecommunications carriers operating in the US from interconnecting with China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom, and other carriers, citing national security risks.
"Chinese-funded telecommunications operators collectively serve as the primary gateways for communications traffic flowing between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies.
"A blanket prohibition on interconnection with these entities would fundamentally fracture a critical segment of the global communications network," China Unicom said.
The FCC, which did not immediately comment on Tuesday, also said in April that it is considering prohibiting Chinese telecoms companies that own data centres in the US or so-called Points of Presence that sit at Internet exchange points from interconnecting with other companies.
That would effectively require Chinese telecoms to stop operating those US centres.
It could also prohibit telecommunications carriers from interconnecting with companies that have installed equipment from companies on the list, including Huawei and ZTE.
On October 15 last year, the FCC said it was moving to revoke the ability of HKT, a leading Hong Kong telecom carrier and subsidiary of PCCW, to operate in the US.
In December, it banned the import of all new models of Chinese drones and in March this year, banned imports of new models of Chinese-made consumer routers, the boxes connecting computers, phones, and smart devices to the Internet.
