ICYMI: Moolenaar Highlights Dangers of Chinese LiDAR in CNBC Report

Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China was recently featured in a CNBC documentary, Blacklisted: How a Chinese Tech Firm Blacklisted by the Pentagon is Expanding its U.S. Reach.

Excerpt below.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are raising alarms about the use of Chinese lidar technology in the United States, warning the sensors could create both cybersecurity and national security risks.

“These sensors and the ability to transmit information is a huge concern,” said U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The committee’s website says that it is “committed to working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”

Some of the committee’s work has focused on protecting U.S. automakers from Chinese competition.

The committee has proposed legislation that would phase out Chinese-made lidar technology in the United States, arguing that the Chinese Communist Party could otherwise exploit a fast-growing and strategically important industry.

In May, Moolenaar introduced legislation that would ban Chinese vehicles from U.S. roads.

Li said his company’s sensors are not capable of storing data and therefore could not transmit information to China. But Moolenaar said he is skeptical of those assurances, arguing that Chinese technology has been known to have back doors.

“We’ve seen back doors in robots that would transmit information back to these Chinese Communist interests,” he said. 

 No proposed legislation or existing laws currently prohibit blacklisted Chinese companies from being listed on U.S. stock exchanges or prevent American investors from buying their shares.

Moolenaar said companies focused on growth and shareholder returns may not prioritize national security concerns in the same way policymakers do.

“We need to consider what implications there are when we merge these Chinese technologies with American technologies,” he said. “Often legislation takes a while to catch up.”