The House Homeland Security Committee conducted an inquiry and discovered that communications equipment was placed inexplicably on Chinese-made cranes that were stationed at American ports.
The House Select Committee on China also initiated an inquiry into the matter, which concentrated on 200 Chinese-manufactured cranes at American ports and facilities that had unregistered cellular modems for use in remote communication.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a statement to CNN that "our Committees’ investigation found vulnerabilities in cranes at U.S. ports that could allow the [Chinese Communist Party] to not only undercut trade competitors through espionage, but disrupt supply chains and the movement of cargo, devastating our nation’s economy." "We will continue to give the CCP an easy way to infiltrate our vital infrastructure on their quest for global dominance unless we make a swift sea-change."
According to the Coast Guard, China produces about 80% of the cranes used at American ports. Cranes often use cellular modems; these modems were not requested nor recorded. According to the Wall Street Journal, port officials acknowledged that they were aware of the modems but were unsure of their purpose for being on the cranes.
The United States and China were experiencing increased national security tensions at the time of the finding. Experts have cautioned that because the cranes may be operated remotely, a hacker may be able to acquire information from the ports or interfere with the machinery.
Liu Pengyu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, claims that China has written off the worries over national security as "paranoia."
Pengyu told CNN, "We firmly oppose the U.S. abusing national power and overstretching the concept of national security to obstruct normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S." The discovery also coincides with a month after Biden administration representatives said they would spend more than $20 billion over the next five years to swap out the Chinese cranes with American-made models.
The House Select Committee on China also initiated an inquiry into the matter, which concentrated on 200 Chinese-manufactured cranes at American ports and facilities that had unregistered cellular modems for use in remote communication.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a statement to CNN that "our Committees’ investigation found vulnerabilities in cranes at U.S. ports that could allow the [Chinese Communist Party] to not only undercut trade competitors through espionage, but disrupt supply chains and the movement of cargo, devastating our nation’s economy." "We will continue to give the CCP an easy way to infiltrate our vital infrastructure on their quest for global dominance unless we make a swift sea-change."
According to the Coast Guard, China produces about 80% of the cranes used at American ports. Cranes often use cellular modems; these modems were not requested nor recorded. According to the Wall Street Journal, port officials acknowledged that they were aware of the modems but were unsure of their purpose for being on the cranes.
The United States and China were experiencing increased national security tensions at the time of the finding. Experts have cautioned that because the cranes may be operated remotely, a hacker may be able to acquire information from the ports or interfere with the machinery.
Liu Pengyu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, claims that China has written off the worries over national security as "paranoia."
Pengyu told CNN, "We firmly oppose the U.S. abusing national power and overstretching the concept of national security to obstruct normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S." The discovery also coincides with a month after Biden administration representatives said they would spend more than $20 billion over the next five years to swap out the Chinese cranes with American-made models.
