Voice of America
06 Aug 2020, 06:05 GMT+10
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration said on Wednesday it was stepping up efforts to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat "significant threats."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said expanded U.S. efforts on a program it calls "Clean Network" would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.
Pompeo's announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok. The hugely popular video-sharing app has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerns, amid intensified tensions between Washington and Beijing.
"With parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok, WeChat and others are significant threats to personal data of American citizens, not to mention tools for CCP (Chinese Communist Party) content censorship," Pompeo said.
TikTok currently faces a deadline of Sept. 15 to either sell its U.S. operations to Microsoft Corp or face an outright ban.
In the run-up to Trump's November re-election bid, U.S.-China ties are at the lowest ebb in decades. Relations are strained over the global coronavirus pandemic, China's military buildup in the South China Sea, its increasing control over Hong Kong and treatment of Uighur Muslims, as well as Beijing's massive trade surpluses and technological rivalry.
Pompeo said the United States was working to prevent Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from pre-installing or making available for download the most popular U.S. apps on its phones.
"We don't want companies to be complicit in Huawei's human rights abuses, or the CCP's surveillance apparatus," Pompeo said, without mentioning any specific U.S. companies.
Pompeo said the State Department would work with other government agencies to protect the data of U.S. citizens and American intellectual property, including COVID-19 vaccine research, by preventing access from cloud-based systems run by companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom, and Tencent.
Pompeo said he was joining Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in urging the U.S. telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to terminate authorizations for China Telecom and three other companies to provide services to and from the United States.
He said the State Department was also working to ensure China could not compromise information carried by undersea cables that connect the United States to the global internet.
The United States has long been lobbying European and other allies to persuade them to cut out Huawei from their telecommunications networks. Huawei denies it spies for China and says the United States wants to frustrate its growth because no U.S. company offers the same technology at a competitive price.
Pompeo's comments on Wednesday reflected a wider and more accelerated push by Washington to limit the access of Chinese technology companies to U.S. market and consumers and, as one U.S. official put it, to push back against a "massive campaign to steal and weaponize our data against us."
A State Department statement said momentum for the Clean Network program was growing and more than 30 countries and territories were now "Clean Countries" and many of the world's biggest telecommunications companies "Clean Telcos."
It called on U.S. allies "to join the growing tide to secure our data from the CCP's surveillance state and other malign entities."
Get a daily dose of Kenya Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Kenya Star.
More InformationNew Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): West Asia expert and veteran journalist Waiel Awwad on Monday emphasised the critical importance...
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): Traditionally heavily reliant on foreign suppliers for defence equipment, India has significantly...
PORT MORESBY, 23rd June, 2025 (WAM) -- A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Papua New Guinea on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological...
Melbourne [Australia], June 23 (ANI): Australia batter Travis Head has called on his teammates to swiftly put their recent ICC World...
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): Congress leader Manickam Tagore on Monday criticised former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan...
(250623) -- GABORONE, June 23, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Members of the 17th batch of the Chinese medical team in Botswana provide free consulting...
SAO PAULO, Brazil: Brazil is taking confident steps to restore its dominance in global poultry exports after declaring its commercial...
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 23 (ANI): Pakistani lawmakers and notable figures have criticised the government's decision to nominate...
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): There won't be a prolonged disruption to oil supplies, as there is no likelihood of escalation in...
New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday slammed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who questioned former Indian...
Tel Aviv [Israel], June 23 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel is 'very close' to achieving...
This assault marks a shift in tactics aimed at destabilizing civil peace and inflaming sectarian tensions. Interior officials said...