On Friday, U.S. Reps. Mark Green, MD (R-TN); Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) and John Moolenaar (R-MI) said a joint investigative report has exposed a threat from China to U.S. port infrastructure security.
Green, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security; Gimenez, chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security; and Moolenaar, chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, issued a report outlining their committee’s joint investigation. According to the report, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) – a company owned and operated in the People’s Republic of China – dominates the global market share of ship-to-shore port cranes, which creates a significant cybersecurity and national security vulnerability for the U.S. and its allies.
“By potentially sacrificing long-term economic security for short-term financial gain, we have given the CCP the ability to track the movement of goods through our ports or even halt port activity at the drop of a hat. Amid China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific, our greatest geopolitical adversary could wield this power to influence global military and commercial activity in the event of escalation. Unfortunately, solutions are not always simple. China maintains unprecedented malign influence over competitors and suppliers.”
According to the report, two Chinese state-owned enterprises control portions of five U.S. ports, and lead tens of billions of dollars in Chinese overseas seaport investments. Many of the seaports use equipment and technology originating from China, the report said. In many cases, the report found, the ports had entered into multibillion dollar contracts with ZPMC, granting it the contractual authority to produce, manufacture, assemble or install the equipment and technology in China and deliver it upon complete.
This makes the U.S. maritime sector dangerously reliant on Chinese equipment and technology, the report said. Additionally, contracting practices between Chinese state-owned enterprises and U.S. ports, fail to adequately prioritize security, the report found. The investigation found that there were no provisions in the contracts prohibiting or limiting unauthorized modifications or access to equipment and technology bound for US ports, leaving ZPMC and other Chinese companies not contractually barred from installing backdoors into equipment or modifying technology.
“By potentially sacrificing long-term economic security for short-term financial gain, we have given the CCP the ability to track the movement of goods through our ports or even halt port activity at the drop of a hat,” the Congressmen wrote. “Amid China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific, our greatest geopolitical adversary could wield this power to influence global military and commercial activity in the event of escalation. Unfortunately, solutions are not always simple. China maintains unprecedented malign influence over competitors and suppliers.”