US Lawmakers Urge Ban on China-Linked Router Maker TP-Link-OxBig News Network

Seventeen Republican lawmakers urged the Commerce Department to prohibit further sales of equipment from TP-Link Systems Inc., a Wi-Fi router maker whose links to China have raised concerns and prompted investigations in the US.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a China hawk, as well as 16 senators and representatives wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday accusing TP-Link of deep ties to China’s ruling Communist Party and calling the company a “clear and present danger.” 

The company has denied the allegations. “As a US company, no foreign country or government – including China – has access to or control over the design and production of our products,” it said in a statement Wednesday. “TP-Link is not a state-sponsored company, has no ‘deep ties’ to, and is completely independent from, the Chinese Communist Party.”

The letter cites reports that Chinese state operatives have exploited TP-Link’s networking devices, including Wi-Fi routers, to wage cyber attacks, and a Bloomberg story on the Justice Department’s investigation into the company’s pricing strategies. The lawmakers also say that China gains access to US systems via TP-Link’s devices “before American authorities know a vulnerability exists.”

“Each day we fail to act, the CCP wins while American competitors suffer, and American security remains at risk,” wrote the lawmakers.

The Commerce Department has started a probe into whether TP-Link’s ties to China pose unacceptable national security risks, Bloomberg reported earlier. Data that the investigators were reviewing show the company has about 60% of the US retail market for Wi-Fi systems and small and home office routers, up from about 10% in early 2019. TP-Link has disputed that data, saying it overstates its market share.

Founded in China, TP-Link split into two separate entities last year, with an American unit based in Irvine, California, and its Chinese business headquartered in Shenzhen. However, a Bloomberg investigation found that the US venture still has substantial operations in mainland China.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Jeffrey Chao, who owns TP-Link’s US business, denied that the company has links to China’s military and intelligence apparatus, and said he had moved all of its most sensitive roles to the US.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.