Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will call for a Federal investigation that examines the potential national security threat of plans to install New York subway cars designed by a Chinese state-owned company.
Schumer told the Associated Press on May 19 that he has requested that the Commerce Department initiate a “top-to-bottom review” of CRRC – one of the world’s biggest train-makers that won a design contest to install new subway cars that would include modern technology to better control trains.
CRRC has previously received contracts for new subway cars in Chicago Los Angeles, Boston, and Philadelphia, and it plans to install new technology in New York’s subway system.
But members of Congress and security experts have raised concerns about CRRC because of its state-owned status in China, warning of previous cyberthreats and attacks linked to Chinese intelligence organizations and officials, the AP reports.
Schumer’s request marks trends of rising anxiety over the encroachment of Chinese products and services and the cybersecurity threats they pose. Last week, the Trump administration effectively banned the Chinese company Huawei over concern for telecom security. On top of cybersecurity concerns, Schumer’s statement also couples with ratcheting trade conflict between the United States and China.