AND CONNELL AS WELL.
WE WILL BE BACK HERE TOMORROW.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" --
♪
LOU: GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY.
WE BEGIN TONIGHT WITH THE RISING
TENSIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED
STATES AND COMMUNIST CHINA.
THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION TODAY DESIGNATED
CHINESE TELECOM COMPANIES HUAWEI
AND ZTE AS NATIONAL SECURITY
THREATS.
THE FCC ALSO BARRING U.S.
TELECOM COMPANIES FROM USING
FEDERAL SUBSIDIES TO BUY
EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES FROM
THOSE CHINESE COMPANIES.
FCC CHAIR AJIT PAI TODAY SAYING
BOTH HUAWEI AND ZTE HAVE CLOSE
CONNECTIONS TO THE CHINESE
COMMUNIST PARTY AND THE PEOPLE’S
THINK ABOUT RAKES ARMY.
LIBERATION ARMY.
ADDING THAT ZTE AND WHAT HUAWEI
ARE REQUIRED TO TURN OVER DATA
AND INFORMATION THAT THEY
COLLECT TO CHINESE INTELLIGENCE.
THE FCC’S DESIGNATION COMES AS
BEIJING TIGHTENS CONTROL OVER
HONG KONG, PUTTING INTO I EFFECT
A SWEEPING NATIONAL SECURITY LAW
THAT COMPLETES BEIJING’S
TAKEOVER OF HONG KONG.
HONG KONG’S LEADER, CARRIE LAMB,
SUPPORTING THAT TAKEOVER AND THE
END OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN HONG
KONG.
PRO-DEMOCRACY GROUPS SAY THIS IS
THE END OF THE HONG KONG THE
WORLD ONCE KNEW.
ON MONDAY SECRETARY OF STATE
MIKE POMPEO ANNOUNCED THE UNITED
STATES IS STOPPING THE EXPORTS
OF DEFENSE EQUIPMENT TO HONG
KONG.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT ALSO
IMPOSED THE SAME RESTRICTIONS ON
DEFENSE AND DUAL USE TECHNOLOGY.
LAST YEAR THE UNITED STATES
EXPORTED MORE THAN $75 MILLION
OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO HONG
KONG, MOST OF WHICH WAS IN THE
FORM OF ENGINES AND TURBINES,
THREE AND A HALF MILLION,
THOUGH, MARKED AS TANKS,
ARTILLERY, MISSILES, ROCKETS,
GUNS AND AMMUNITION.
SECRETARY POMPEO SAID, QUOTE: WE
CANNOT RISK THESE ITEMS FALLING
INTO THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE’S
LIBERATION ARMY WHOSE PRIMARY
PURPOSE IS TO UPHOLD THE
DICTATORSHIP OF THE CCP BY ANY
MEANS NECESSARY.
THE HUDSON INSTITUTE’S
DR. MICHAEL PILLSBURY WILL BE
WITH US TO TAKE UP CHINA’S
RISING AMBITIONS AND AGGRESSION.
BUT FIRST, OUR GUEST THIS
EVENING FORMALLY DESIGNATED
HUAWEI AND ZTE AS THREATED TO
U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY, A MAJOR
STEP TOWARD REMOVING NATIONAL
SECURITY STEPS FROM THE UNITED
STATES.
JOINING US, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION, AJIT PAI.
AJIT, GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
IT’S BEEN SOME TIME THAT WE KNEW
THAT BOTH OF THESE COMPANIES
WERE TURNING OVER INFORMATION
THAT THEY GATHERED IN THE COURSE
OF THEIR NORMAL BUSINESSES TO
PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY, TO
CHINESE INTELLIGENCE.
WHY THIS DECISION NOW?
>> WELL, THANKS FOR HAVING ME
ON, LOU.
UNLIKE IN COMMUNIST CHINA, WE
HAVE THE RULE OF LAW IN THIS
COUNTRY.
AND IN NOVEMBER OF 2019, THE FCC
PROPOSED TO BAN THE USE OF FCC
FUNDING BEING USED BY TELECOM
CARRIERS HERE IN THE UNITED
STATES ON PROBLEMATIC EQUIPMENT
OR SERVICES COMING FROM CARRIERS
LIKE HUAWEI AND ZTE.
WE INITIALLY PROPOSED TO
DESIGNATE THEM AS NATIONAL
SECURITY THREATS, BUT WE WANTED
EVERYONE TO MAKE THEIR CASE.
WE A HEARD FROM THE EXECUTIVE
BRANCH, FROM CONGRESS, FROM
OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, AND WE HEARD
FROM HUAWEI AND ZTE.
THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE
EVIDENCE SUGGESTED THAT THEY
WOULD BE NATIONAL SECURITY
THREATS, AND THAT’S WHY WE MOVED
FORWARD TODAY WITH A FIRM
DESIGNATION TO PLANT A FLAG TO
SAY STARTING ON JULY 1ST,
TOMORROW, THAT USF FUNDING,
FUNDING OVERSEEN BY THE FCC,
WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE USED
BY U.S. TELECOM CARRIERS ON
EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES FROM THESE
TWO COMPANIES WHICH ARE DEEMED
AS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS TO
THE UNITED STATES.
LOU: IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF
PUSHING BOTH OF THESE COMPANIES
OUT OF THE U.S. MARKET?
>> THAT’S A GOOD QUESTION.
ALL I WILL SAY IS THAT WE ARE
LOOKING AT OVERALL THE SECURITY
OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS.
RIGHT NOW WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS THAT ARE
FUNDED IN PART BY THE FCC.
LAST YEAR WE ALSO OPENED UP A
CONVERSATION ABOUT WHETHER WE
SHOULD BROADEN THAT PROHIBITION
FOR EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES THAT
ARE USED BY NETWORKS EVEN IF
THEY’RE NOT FUNDED BY IF FCC.
WEAVE -- BY THE FCC.
WE’VE ALSO BEEN WORKING TO
FINANCE THE REMOVAL OF
PROBLEMATIC EQUIPMENT.
NO MATTER WHAT COMPANY IT IS,
WHAT COUNTRY IT’S LOCATED IN, IF
IT’S COMPROMISING THE SECURITY
OF THE UNITED STATES’
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, THAT’S
NOT ALLOWABLE.
WE WILL NOT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN
ON OUR WATCH.
LOU: SO HUAWEI AND ZTE ARE BEING
BARRED AS WELL THEN FROM ACCESS
TO OUR, TO THE BACKBONE OF THE
INTERNET, TO OUR BASIC
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INFRASTRUCTURE, IS THAT CORRECT?
>> THAT’S CORRECT.
SO WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT THESE
TWO COMPANIES, HUAWEI AND ZTE,
HAD TIES TO THE CHINESE
COMMUNIST PARTY, THE PEOPLE’S
LIBERATION ARMY.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, THEY ARE
OBLIGATED UNDER CHINESE LAW, IF
THEY GET A REQUEST FROM THE
CHINESE SECRET POLICE, THE
INTELLIGENCE SERVICES, THEY MUST
COMPLY WITH IT, AND THEY ARE
PROHIBITED FROM DISCLOSING FACT
OF THAT REQUEST TO ANY OF THEIR
CUSTOMERS.
SO ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE TALKING
ABOUT SMALL RURAL CARRIERS IN
THE UNITED STATES, IT’S NOT A
RISK THAT WE BELIEVE IS WORTH
TAKING.
THAT COULD ALLOW FOR ALL KINDS
OF INTRUSION, THE INSTALLATION
OF BACK DOORS, INFECTION OF OUR
NETWORKS WITH MALWARE, THE LEFT
THE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF RISKS
THAT ARE SIMPLY NOT WORK TAKING
HERE IN THE UNITED STATES AND, I
WOULD ARGUE, ELSEWHERE IN THE
WORLD.
LOU: AND, INDEED, IN TERMS OF
THE REST OF THE WORLD, AJIT,
WHERE DOES EUROPE STAND, WHERE
DO OUR ALLIES IN THE PACIFIC AND
ASIA STAND?
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATIONS]
>> BASED ON MY OWN PERSONAL
CONVERSATIONS WITH SOME OF MY
FOREIGN COUNTERPARTS, WE’VE
GOTTEN A GOOD RESPONSE FROM MANY
OF OUR ALLIES AROUND THE WORLD.
I TALKED TO FOLKS FROM SOUTH,
EUROPE AND ASIA, AND I THINK
THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE STARTING
TO HAVE TRANS.
SINGAPORE, FOR EXAMPLE, TOOK A
STEP TO LIMIT HUAWEI USE, 5G
EQUIPMENT.
JUST YESTERDAY THE INDIAN
GOVERNMENT BANNED 59 MOBILE APPS
FROM THEIR NETWORKS ALTOGETHER.
I THINK THERE’S A GROWING
REPUTATION AROUND THE WORLD THAT
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY
PRESENTS A UNIQUE THREAT TO
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, AND
HERE IN THE UNITED STATES WE ARE
SENDING A SIGNAL THAT WE ARE NOT
GOING TO TOLERATE THAT THREAT
ANY LONGER.
LOU: THANK YOU VERY MUCH, WE