TMTPOST --  The Chinese government pledged to defend domestic companies after the Biden administration was reported to mull banning a Chinese router maker on national security concerns.

Credit：Shanghai Observer

“China will take resolute measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on a regular press on Thursday. Lin made the remark when requested to comment on a recent report about a possible U.S. ban targeting a Chinese router manufacturer TP-Link. Lin said China opposes Washington’s overstretching the concept of national security and its discriminatory practices targeting particular countries and companies.

Earlier Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce of China echoed the opposition to the reported possible ban.  China always opposes U.S. suppression of Chinese companies under the pretext of national security, said He Yongqian, a spokesperson for the ministry. The U.S. side should be objective and rational when conducting the relevant investigation, rather than making groundless accusations on the presumption of guilt, said He.

China would firmly defend the lawful rights and interests of Chinese firms,  said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Liu described the reported U.S. attempt as a guise of national security to suppress Chinese companies.

The Chinese government issued their warnings in response to the Wall Street Journal report earlier this week. It was reported that the U.S. Commerce, Defense and Justice departments have launched their own investigations into TP-Link for fear that China-founded company has been linked to cyberattacks posing a national security risk. An office of the Commerce Department has subpoenaed TP-Link, according to the report. The U.S. authorities could ban the sale of TP-Link routers in the country next year, the reported cited people familiar with the matter.

TP-Link, as the top choice on Amazon.com, now occupies about 65% of the American market for routers for homes and small businesses, and powers internet communications for the U.S. federal government agencies including the Pentagon, the report noted. The probe opens a new front in the U.S. push to crack down on China-linked technology firms deemed a possible threat to U.S. networks and data. It singles out a company that had largely escaped national-security notice even as TP-Link came to lead the market for home and small-office routers, which relay information from the internet to devices such as computers and smartphones.

The Pentagon opened its probe into national security vulnerabilities in Chinese routers upon request from lawmakers. A letter in August by the co-chairs of a bipartisan House of Representatives select committee on China urged the urged the Commerce Secretary to investigate TP-Link because it presents an “unusual degree of vulnerabilities.” The lawmakers also cited Chinese laws requiring companies to aid the state’s military and intelligence objectives, and frequent Chinese state-backed cyber attacks exploiting routers.The House of Representatives in September passed legislation that called for a study of the national-security risks posed by routers with ties to foreign adversaries, on which the Senate has yet to act.

A spokeswoman for TP-Link Systems Inc. said the U.S. unit based in California “welcomes opportunities to engage with the US government to demonstrate that its security practices are fully in line with industry security standards, and to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the US market and US consumers.”