The Biden administration is investigating China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom over concerns the firms could exploit access to American data through their U.S. cloud and internet businesses by providing it to Beijing, three sources familiar with the matter said.
The companies still have a small presence in the United States, for example, providing cloud services and routing wholesale U.S. internet traffic. That gives them access to Americans' data even after telecom regulators barred them from providing telephone and retail internet services in the United States.
The Chinese companies and their U.S.-based lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment and the White House referred questions to Commerce, which declined to comment.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said it hopes the United States will "stop suppressing Chinese companies under false pretexts," adding that China will continue to defend the rights and interests of Chinese companies.
