Seventeen Republican lawmakers urged the Commerce Department to ban further sales of equipment from TP-Link Systems Inc., a Wi-Fi router maker, whose links to China have attracted attention and prompted investigations in the United States.
Chinese Hawk Senator Tom Cotton and 16 senators and representatives wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday accusing TP-Link of TP-LINK, a ruling Communist Party of China, and called the company “clear and dangerous danger.”
The company denied the allegations. “As a U.S. company, no foreign or government (including China) can use or control the design and production of our products,” it said in a statement Wednesday. “TP-Link is not a state-sponsored company and does not have a “deep connection” to the Chinese Communist Party.”
The letter reported that Chinese state agents have used TP-Link’s network devices, including Wi-Fi routers, to launch cyber attacks, as well as Bloomberg stories about the Justice Department’s investigation into the company’s pricing strategy. The lawmakers also said China gained access to the U.S. system through TP-Link devices, “before U.S. authorities know there is vulnerability.”
“Every day we do not act, the Athletics Council wins while the U.S. rivals suffer, while U.S. security is still at risk,” lawmakers wrote.
Bloomberg reported that the Ministry of Commerce has begun investigating whether TP-Link’s ties to China pose unacceptable national security risks. Data investigators are reviewing show that the company has about 60% of its Wi-Fi system retail market and small and home office routers, up from 10% in early 2019. TP-Link objected to the data, saying it exaggerated its market share.
TP-Link was founded in China and was divided into two separate entities last year in Irvine, California, with its Chinese operations headquartered in Shenzhen. However, a Bloomberg survey found that the U.S. venture still has a large number of operations in mainland China.
Jeffrey Chao, who owns TP-Link’s U.S. business, denied in an interview with Bloomberg that the company had ties to China’s military and intelligence agencies and said he had transferred all of its most sensitive roles to the United States.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
