Chinese technology company ZTE issued a statement today in response to the US government's ban. UU Of the American exports to the company. The US Department of Commerce UU He says that ZTE did not maintain a plea agreement after the company pleaded guilty last year to illegally transporting US equipment to Iran and North Korea. The department specifically says that the company still gave employees who illegally acted full bonuses, despite saying they would not. In addition, only four senior officials were dismissed from the 35 that reportedly violated the law Reuters reported
Now, four days after the ban, ZTE says it tried to comply with the US. UU And he invested "enormous resources in export compliance." He says, "the refusal order will not only seriously affect the survival and development of ZTE, but will also cause damage to all ZTE partners, including a large number of American companies. " It also says that it could "Take legal measures to protect the rights and legal interests of our Company, our employees and our shareholders, and to fulfill its obligations and responsibilities to our global clients, end users, partners and suppliers." A leaked internal note suggests that ZTE has assembled a crisis team to handle and respond to the situation.
Meanwhile, the National Cybersecurity Center of the United Kingdom issued a letter to telecommunications providers warning against the use of ZTE equipment or services due to the risks to national security. The watchdog says the letter came out partially because of ZTE's response to US sanctions against Iran and North Korea, but also because of concerns about the "risk of external interference" in the country's systems from China.
