Quectel Wireless Solutions has been accused by a U.S. House Select Committee of having “problematic relationships” with the Chinese Communist Party and its military. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said Quectel’s relationships with a civil-military fusion arm of the Chinese government has been a growing concern.
Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi, and FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel last year said they were concerned 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 Austin and Yellen place Quectel on a Defense Department list of ‘Chinese military companies’ and a Treasury Department list of prohibited investments.
For its part, Quectel blasted back at the Select Committee, saying it’s an independent company traded on the Shanghai stock exchange. “We are disappointed to see continued and false allegations from the Select Committee on China about Quectel and its supposed cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Quectel is not owned, controlled or directed by the CCP or the PLA,” said Norbert Muhrer, Quectel president and chief sales officer.
Muhrer said that the Select Committee’s call to blacklist Quectel has no impact except to block U.S. investments in the company’s securities. “Quectel would not be barred from selling any of its products, in other words, would not be blacklisted. The committee’s misuse of the term is causing needless irritations with customers we are serving well,” he said.
Quectel hired Finite State to perform independent audits and penetration tests of Quectel’s modules in July 2023. The company said it shared results, in September, showing that its products exceeded industry standards.
