Free Republic

WASHINGTON – A Chinese company installed intelligence gathering equipment on cranes used at seaports across the US that could allow Beijing to spy on Americans and cripple key infrastructure, according to a new congressional report. The Republican majorities on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and House Homeland Security Committee found that the Shanghai-based, state-owned ZPMC engineering company had pressured American port authorities to allow remote access to its cranes, “with a particular focus on those located on the West Coast.” “If granted, this access could potentially be extended to other [People’s Republican of China] government entities,...

Amid rising concerns that Chinese-made giant cargo cranes found at U.S. ports could be a security concern are new reports that communications devices have been found within the mammoth cranes. A report in the Wall Street Journal, citing congressional aides and documents, said cellular modems have been found that could be remotely accessed. The finding is potentially serious, because ZPMC, a China-based manufacturer, has made about 80 percent of the cranes that unload ships at U.S. ports. China “is looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into America’s critical infrastructure,...

The White House launched its big push for investment in American infrastructure on Friday. But whoops! A mischievous gust of wind had its way with the all-American staging of President Obama’s big speech. White House staffers had attempted to cover the logos of Chinese crane company ZPMC with American flags, but Mother Nature had other ideas.