Republican lawmakers on the Select Committee on Communist China warned in a staff report on Friday that U.S. reliance on Chinese-made offshore cranes poses national security risks because the cranes' built-in modems allow them to be controlled remotely.
The committee said the discovery was alarming because the modems were “hidden” and “unauthorized” and had not been requested by U.S. port authorities or listed in any relevant legal agreements.
“These cellular modems were not part of any request or contract from U.S. ports and were intended to collect specific equipment usage data. This constitutes a significant backdoor security vulnerability that compromises the integrity of port operations,” the staff report said.
The crane in question was made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC), a Chinese state-owned company that does business with ports around the world.
House Republicans expressed concern about the potential vulnerabilities and also noted that ZPMC and similar Chinese companies are not prohibited by contract from installing backdoors in their hardware.
“ZPMC and other [Chinese state-owned enterprises] “The contract does not prohibit the installation of backdoors in the equipment or other technological modifications that could allow unauthorized access or remote control, potentially compromising sensitive data or later disrupting U.S. maritime operations,” the report said.
The lawmakers said collecting data on China's shipping and logistics information is part of the country's “going out” strategy, first articulated by Premier Jiang Zemin in the 1990s, which includes building new ports in the Indian Ocean as well as major infrastructure investments in Africa and trade and commercial activities across the Asian continent.
The lawmakers described the policy as “signaling a pivotal shift in international economic dynamics.”
While the US and Chinese economies remain deeply intertwined, with China holding large amounts of US Treasury bonds and the US buying large amounts of Chinese manufactured goods, economic ties between the two countries have shown signs of strain in the aftermath of the pandemic, with shutdowns causing disruptions to supply and value chains and ultimately contributing to a wave of global inflation.
The turmoil has been fueled by a recent U.S. policy shift toward domestic investment and manufacturing, particularly in semiconductors, even as many policymakers in Washington stress economic symbiosis between the U.S. and China.
