The US government continued to widen its net on Chinese companies operating in the country, targeting China Telecom’s cloud and internet businesses, which it claims are national security risks, Reuters reported.

The US Commerce Department gave China Telecom Americas 30 days to respond to preliminary findings that its access to networks and cloud services in the US could allow the company to compromise domestic data by sharing it with the Chinese government, the news agency stated.

The move is part of a wider crackdown on Chinese companies, with the US limiting access to advanced chip and chipmaking machinery and pushing for a ban on TikTok’s operations in the country.

In 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoked the company’s right to offer domestic and international telecoms services in the US.

The FCC in 2020 first demanded the US subsidiaries of China Telecom and China Unicom prove they do not pose a threat to national security.

A year earlier, it pushed for interconnection licences held by Chinese operators to be revoked.