US lawmakers urge administration to blacklist Quectel as a ‘Chinese Military Company’

WASHINGTON, USA – Chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, outlining new information on Quectel Wireless Solutions’ problematic relationships with a civil-military fusion arm of the Chinese government and with blacklisted firms like Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese military companies.

Quectel is a People’s Republic of China (PRC) company responsible for manufacturing a significant percentage of the modules found in American devices connected to the internet. In the past few months, Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi, and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel expressed concern about the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to potentially weaponize internet modules made by Quectel and other PRC firms to infiltrate, track, or sabotage American devices.

In the letter, the lawmakers request that Secretaries Austin and Yellen place Quectel on a Defense Department List of ‘Chinese military companies’ and a Treasury Department list of prohibited investments, writing:

“We have obtained information about Quectel that raises questions about whether Quectel may meet the legal requirements to be added to [the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese Military Companies (1260H list) and the Department of Treasury’s Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List)], and accordingly respectfully request to be briefed on this matter… Quectel [has] multiple affiliations with [the PRC’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology].. [and] is a key supplier for numerous firms that the Department of Defense has already listed as Chinese military companies under 1260H.”

The lawmakers requested a briefing on these matters as soon as possible.

Read the letter HERE.