Gallagher Committee Queries DNI on Cuba Developments

Posted Friday, June 23, 2023 11:40 am

House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) wants information on whether Chinese telecommunications companies like Huawei and ZTE are aiding Beijing in spying on the United States from Cuba.

In a letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Rep. Gallagher is seeking immediate answers following detailed reports of an active Chinese spy base in Cuba.

“In light of the PRC’s approach to modernizing its defense and intelligence capabilities, it is clear any enhancement or expansion of PRC SIGINT capabilities in Cuba is likely to be aided by PRC telecommunications companies,” he said.

“Having offices and business operations in Cuba would provide cover for PRC SIGINT operators to travel to and from the island without creating the same suspicion as official travel,” he continued. “Huawei, for example, has assisted the Cuban government in modernizing its telecommunications and Internet infrastructure since the 2000s, and, like ZTE and Great Dragon Information Technology, has a permanent presence there.”

Beijing’s intelligence agency and the Chinese companies supporting it “have relied in part on accessing or exploiting US intellectual property, even as they have undermined US interests, violated

US export control restrictions, and boosted the surveillance and censorship capabilities of authoritarian states,” he wrote in the letter.

Questions Asked
Rep. Gallagher asked for responses to the following questions about the intelligence community’s awareness of the connections between PRC SIGINT and commercial activities and whether this information has been used to inform ongoing export licensing decisions:

Which PRC information and communications technology companies provide support to the PRC SIGINT program outside the PRC, including technical support and operational cover?
Have the identities and activities of these companies and their contribution to PRC SIGINT operations been shared with the Department of Commerce, or any other member of the End-User Review Committee?
How many applications for export licenses to these PRC companies have been approved since the Intelligence Community reportedly became aware of the PRC SIGINT facilities in Cuba in 2019? How many of these applications did the Department of Commerce reject? How many of the approved applications are for products that could enable SIGINT collection, processing, or analysis?
Do any of these companies have export licenses pending before the Department of Commerce?
Did the Intelligence Community’s knowledge of these companies and their support to PRC SIGINT operations factor in decisions on whether to grant licenses? Will it factor in decisions currently facing the Department of Commerce?

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

E-edition

Vol 44 No. 27 July 1, 2024

View this issue

Browse other issues

Recent stories

Commerce Blacklists Flight Schools for China Ties

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added six companies to the Entity list Tuesday, four for their involvement in training Chinese military pilots in NATO tactics. BIS also added two UAE- based entities to the Entity List because they repeatedly engaged in “dilatory or evasive conduct, including the provision of false, misleading, or incomplete information, during end-use checks.”

FCPA Enforcement Takes a Breather

Neither the SEC nor the DOJ filed a new FCPA Enforcement Action in the second quarter of 2024, which is relatively rare, according to a report from Stanford University's FCPA Clearinghouse. The last time a quarter passed without a single new enforcement action was in 2013, and before that, in 2003. Enforcement activity in the first six months of the year was the lowest recorded in almost two decades.

USMCA Automotive Report Released

The USTR's office Monday released the second Report on the Operation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) with Respect to Trade in Automotive Goods . The conclusion of the report is that there is no conclusion. The automotive industry continues preparing for full implementation of the USMCA rules of origin (ROOs) when special flexibilities afforded under alternative staging regimes begin to expire in 2025.

Commerce Updates "Don't Let This Happen to You!"

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Enforcement published an updated version of Don’t Let This Happen to You!, a compendium of case examples highlighting BIS criminal and administrative enforcement efforts. The publication was last updated in March 2024.

EU Expands Belarus Sanctions

The European Council today adopted restrictive measures targeting the Belarusian economy, extending the export ban on dual-use/advanced goods and technologies, the measures include maritime navigation goods and technologies, and luxury goods. Also controlled are services exports, transport, and select imports from the Russian vassal state. The regulation requires that EU exporters insert in their future contract the so-called 'no-Belarus clause', through which they contractually prohibit the re-exportation to Belarus or re-exportation for use in Belarus of sensitive goods and technology, battlefield goods, firearms and ammunition.

U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) Economic Dialogue

While Hanoi's red carpet treatement for longtime ally Valdimir Putin spurs consternation in Washington, economic statecraft with the country's largest trading partner continues apace. …

More news

Gallagher Committee Queries DNI on Cuba Developments

Comments

Commerce Blacklists Flight Schools for China Ties

USMCA Automotive Report Released

African Growth Act Report, Eligibility Update

Senators Continue to Bash Nippon Buy of US Steel