Scanners and security equipment from a Chinese company with deep ties to the Communist Party of China and the country’s armed forces are installed in some of the world’s most sensitive areas, such as ports and airports in Europe and even at the Davos Economic Forum, it reported. The Associated Press.
The Nuctech company has already been barred from operating in the United States, due to security concerns, but has already made agreements to install its devices in 26 of the 27 nations of the European Union, according to a survey carried out by the news agency.
Security officials in Western countries fear that the equipment could be used by China to sabotage important transit points or gain illicit access to government, industry or individual data from items that pass through the company’s devices.
Critics allege that Beijing subsidized this company so that it would get ahead of the competition and thus give the Chinese regime access to crucial infrastructure in the West.
Western authorities warn that these devices process very sensitive personal, military or cargo data. “You are dependent on a foreign actor, who is a geopolitical adversary and a strategic rival,” Bart Groothuis, a member of the European Parliament and former director of cybersecurity at the Dutch Ministry of Defense, told AP.
Nuctech denies the allegations, saying all of its European operations comply with local laws, including those on security and privacy.
The company also manufactures explosive detectors and interconnected devices used for facial recognition, body temperature measurements or other forms of identification.
The risk, according to critics, is that Nuctech will have to give in to possible requests from Beijing for sensitive data about cargo, people or devices that pass through its scanners, as intelligence laws in China require companies to hand over requested data. by national security agencies. They say that way Beijing could take advantage of the company’s presence in Europe to collect data on border flows and even sabotage trade in the region in the event of conflict.
In December 2020, the United States included Nuctech on a list to restrict the company’s exports to the country, for security reasons. The TSA, the federal agency that manages transportation security in the country, told AP that the Chinese company’s products “are not authorized to be used to monitor passengers, baggage, property or air cargo in the US.”
According to the report, the company has been gaining ground in Europe through bids at very low prices that competitors cannot match, sometimes 30% to 50% lower than rivals.
Nuctech says it has supplied equipment to more than 170 countries. The company says that in 2019 it installed more than 1,000 security verification devices across Europe for customs, civil aviation, ports and government organizations.
This includes border security equipment from four of the five NATO countries that border Russia (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland). The two largest European ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp, also use Nuctech equipment, as do airports in more than a dozen cities, including London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Zurich.
Nuctech reported that it provided safety equipment for the Olympics held in Brazil in 2016.
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