Trump chooses to help perpetuate cyberwarfare

One has to wonder whether President Trump is more interested in a media blitz about himself rather than the national security of our country.  I am referring to his recent decision concerning the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.  ZTE is one of the largest telecommunications companies in China.  Like almost all companies in China they are owned by the Chinese government and operate with the blessings of that government.

ZTE has become one of the largest producers of ‘phones to go’ products that are sold in this country.  The Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army along with the Russians are notably the largest perpetrators of cyberwarfare in the world.  This is a major concern of the United States.  So much so that a national security report penned by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in 2012 stated the following, “China has the means, opportunity, and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes.”  This committee’s concerns were authenticated when it was discovered that phones made by ZTE contained a hidden ‘backdoor’ which could be used to gain access to not only that particular phone’s data but also data from the network on which that phone operated.  Propriety information could not only be spied upon but also altered and in some case sabotaged.

Currently ZTE along with another Chinese telecommunications company provide equipment to about 145 countries around the world and in 45 of the top 50 telecom centers worldwide.

The Chinese cyberwarfare concern is so perverse in this country that Verizon and AT&T, two of the largest providers of telecommunications, have refused to sell ZTE manufactured phones for use on their networks.  You can no longer buy a ZTE phone from either provider.  The U.S. military has also banned the use of ZTE products for years.

To further illustrate our government’s concern over cyber security, in March FCC chairman, Ajit Pai circulated a proposal for consideration at the Commission’s April 17th meeting to ban certain companies from receiving government funds that subsidize low-income Americans’ access to phone and internet service.  Guess which company was one of the ones proposed in that ban?  ZTE

However, all this national security concern seems of no importance to President Trump.  Last month the US stopped American firms from providing components or software to ZTE. This was enacted as punishment for ZTE violating a 2016 Obama era agreement which forbid the sale of goods to five major embargoed countries — Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Syria and Cuba.  ZTE admitted its guilt and the U.S slapped them with sanctions.  China is upset because this could seriously impede the very survival of the company because all phones produced, even in China, need U.S. software to function.

Trump, despite being warned by U.S Intelligence officials and cyberwarfare experts, has taken it upon himself to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping to keep ZTE Corp. in business.   Why President Trump would put our national and worldwide security at such a risk remains a mystery.  Perhaps it’s his desire to capture some more headlines by demonstrating his skills as a great negotiator by using this as leverage in getting other concessions from China.

But then again maybe it’s just another example of his “shoot from the hip” decision paradigm lacking in a deep understanding of the consequences of such a move, as is so often the case.

If left alone ZTE would probably die a peaceful death due to the U.S. sanctions and remove one major source of cyberwarfare worldwide.  However, President Trump is determined not to let that happen.