Chinese Telecom Investments in U.S.: More Transparency, Continuous Policy Review Needed, Speakers Say
As Chinese telecom investments in the U.S. face tight scrutiny, common ground might occur if the Chinese firms become more open and transparent, several panelists said at the American Enterprise Institute Thursday. As Chinese telecom companies are expected to continue to expand and remain major global players, U.S. policy on Chinese telecom investment should be a work in progress, some said. The panelists also debated the benefits and security risks of Chinese telecom firms like Huawei.
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Becoming a publicly traded company listed on a U.S. stock exchange, most likely the NASDAQ, is one way to improve transparency for companies like Huawei, said AEI scholar Claude Barfield. The company should continue and even step up its efforts to assuage U.S. government agencies’ security concerns, he said. It should increase and expand programs to provide independent, continuous third-party evaluation of its equipment, he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. government should make the investment/security-vetting process more transparent and formulate and publicize a set of guidelines that explains the rationale behind individual investment decisions, he said. Efforts to expand the security vetting process to cover normal business contracts or joint research and corporate ventures should be resisted, he said.
Chinese telecom companies generally shouldn’t be operating in the U.S. but “that doesn’t mean you should slam the door,” said Derek Scissors of the Heritage Foundation. U.S. policy toward investments from Chinese telecom firms should be a work in progress, he said. Telecom isn’t only a major industry, it has an obvious role in national security, he said. Huawei might have been globalized, but it’s still a state-controlled company, he said.
It appears that Huawei seeks to play by the same rules as other multinational companies, said Theodore Moran, a professor on international issues at Georgetown University. The company is trying to figure out the best way to address the security concerns and improve its openness, he said. It’s a work in progress, said Moran, a member of Huawei’s International Advisory Council. He claimed Chinese investments in the U.S., most of which are research and development focused, create high-paying jobs. There will be more high-tech companies coming to the U.S., which is “highly beneficial” to the country, he said.
Huawei always seeks “fact-based” communications and transparency, said William Plummer, vice president-external relations. The only way to eliminate vulnerabilities in the global telecom supply chain is to set the bar higher and more consistently for everyone, he said. Otherwise, there would be fragmentation, he said.