Fears raised over ‘Chinese spy cranes’ in US ports

Fears raised over ‘Chinese spy cranes’ in US ports

There are concerns that the machines are effectively Trojan Horses for Beijing and could be used to sabotage sensitive logistics

Unexplained communications equipment has been found in Chinese-made cranes in US ports that could be used for spying and potentially “devastate” the American economy, according to a new congressional investigation.

The finding, first reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), will stoke American concerns that the cranes are effectively Trojan Horses for Beijing to gain access to, or even sabotage, sensitive logistics.

The probe by the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House select committee on China found over a dozen pre-installed cellular modems, that can be remotely accessed, in just one port.

Many of the devices did not seem to have a clear function or were not documented in any contract between US ports and crane maker ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned company that accounts for nearly 80 per cent of ship-to-shore cranes in use in America, according to the WSJ.

The modems were found “on more than one occasion” on the ZPMC cranes, a congressional aide said.

“Our committees’ investigation found vulnerabilities in cranes at US ports that could allow the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to not only undercut trade competitors through espionage, but disrupt supply chains and the movement of cargo, devastating our nation’s economy,” Mark Green, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN.

The Chinese government is “looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into America’s critical infrastructure,” he told the WSJ, adding that the US had overlooked the threat for too long.

The Telegraph has contacted ZPMC for comment.

‘The new Huawei’

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington DC said claims that Chinese-made cranes pose a security risk are “entirely paranoia.”

The US investigation began last year amid Pentagon fears that sophisticated sensors on large ship-to-shore cranes could register and track containers, offering valuable information to Beijing about the movement of cargo supporting US military operations around the world.

At the time, Bill Evanina, a former top US counterintelligence official, said: “Cranes can be the new Huawei.”

“It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection,” he told the WSJ.

In recent years, a handful of Chinese crane companies have grown into major players in the global automated ports industry, working with Microsoft and other companies to connect equipment and analyse data in real-time.