Banned on Paper, Plugged In Anyway: Why Washington's Telecom Crackdowns Didn't Actually Remove Chinese State Firms
The United States thought it evicted Chinese state-owned telecoms from its networks years ago. A new probe reported by Defense One found that three of these firms never fully left — retaining equipment, data center space, and network connections inside the US, with one network even appearing in traffic routes tied to Salt Typhoon, the Chinese hacking campaign that burrowed into American phone carriers. The real story here isn't the hacking threat itself — it's that a headline-grabbing government 'ban' apparently didn't remove what it claimed to remove.
Bottom Line
Three Chinese state-owned telecoms kept physical and network footholds in the US years after crackdowns supposedly pushed them out, per a Defense One-reported probe — including one whose network appeared in routing paths tied to the Salt Typhoon espionage campaign. The lesson isn't just that China is persistent; it's that America's security bans have a follow-through problem. A revoked license without verified removal is a locked front door with the back door propped open.