House China Leaders: FCC Should Probe Foxlink's Buy of Dahua's U.S. Arm

House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., are asking the FCC to examine Taiwan-based Foxlink’s purchase earlier this year of Dahua Technology’s U.S. arm. The lawmakers believe the sale is an attempt to evade federal agencies’ blacklisting of Dahua cameras destined for government facilities, critical infrastructure surveillance or other national security uses. “Publicly available information about the deal suggests Dahua’s firmware and software will still be developed in” China and “therefore controlled by” that country’s government, Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Outside analysts have noted that they ‘expect Dahua to use Foxlink ... [to] claim that they no longer manufacture or produce these products. And the argument will then become, if they no longer produce those products, that US government regulations such as the FCC new device authorization or [National Defense Authorization Act] government bans can no longer be applied.” The lawmakers asked the FCC for a briefing on its findings, including “the possibility that it may be an effort to circumvent statutory restrictions on Dahua cameras in the U.S., without addressing the underlying national security risks such restrictions seek to remedy.”