Huawei is backed by Chinese military, Trump administration reportedly finds

Huawei is owned or controlled by the Chinese military, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing an internal document from the US Defense Department. The Trump administration has reportedly sent a document to Congress containing the names of 20 Chinese companies that it found to be backed by the People’s Liberation Army.

The designation by the Pentagon enables the president to declare a national emergency and then penalize the companies on the list with sanctions if they operate in the US. As well as Huawei, Axios reported the list includes China Mobile Communications Group, China Telecommunications and Hikvision Digital Technology.

The White House press office, the Defense Department press office, Huawei, China Mobile, China Telecom and Hikvision didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news follows the CIA reportedly accusing Huawei of receiving funding from China’s National Security Commission, the People’s Liberation Army and a third branch of the Chinese state intelligence network over a year ago.

Huawei was blacklisted in May when it was added to the United States’ “entity list” (PDF). In addition, US President Donald Trump at the same time signed an executive order essentially banning the company in light of national security concerns that Huawei had close ties with the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied that charge.