Why the US government sees China Mobile as a national security threat

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency under the US Department of Commerce, said China Mobile posed a security risk in its recommendation that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deny the Hong Kong-listed network operator’s application to build its own infrastructure and provide consumer and corporate telecommunications services in the US.

“After significant engagement with China Mobile, concerns about increased risks to US law enforcement and national security interests were unable to be resolved,” the NTIA said in a statement about the mainland firm’s 2011 application to the FCC.

That represented the first time a Chinese telecommunications network operator had been singled out as a security threat in the US. American lawmakers had previously identified ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies, two of the world’s biggest telecoms equipment manufacturers, as companies that posed risks to national security because of alleged ties to the Chinese government.