The satellites financed by American company, the Carlyle Group, are used to boost Chinese government capabilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US has trade laws which prevents companies from selling satellites directly to China or Chinese companies, according to CNBC. Despite this, the laws do not regulate the bandwidth on the satellites which has reportedly been rented by China.
China reportedly also used the satellite bandwidth to stop protests in Xinjiang.
The State Department told the WSJ: “The US strongly urges companies to implement stringent safeguards to ensure that their commercial activities do not contribute to China’s human-rights abuses.
The US and China are currently embroiled in a contest over who will control networking technologies in the future.
US President Donald Trump has previously accused China of trying to spy on partners.
READ MORE: South China Sea: Trump ‘SCARED’ of triggering war with China – Duterte
Officials in the US have also gone as far to accuse Beijing of using physical and cyber espionage to acquire American technology, Tech Crunch reported.
The rift between the US and China amid the future of technologies comes as the US tried to push back China’s hold over the South China Sea.
The waters are the world’s busiest trade route is also claimed by the likes of Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei.
So far, the US has conducted 15 freedom of navigation operations in the area since 2015.
The US also want allies to consider similar manoeuvres.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, told an audience at the National Review Institute’s 2019 Ideas Summit that “there is an important relationship between the US and China”.
But he added: “Their moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation.
“Their efforts to build ports around the world aren’t because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways.
“But rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them.”