House China Committee Asks FCC, Commerce to Blacklist Unitree Robotics
The House China Committee urged the FCC on Wednesday to add Chinese company Unitree Robotics to its covered entities list to block its equipment’s use on U.S. telecom infrastructure. Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and other panel members cited Unitree’s “well-documented ties to [China’s People’s Liberation Army]-affiliated institutions and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entities. Reporting indicates that Unitree has participated in military-civil fusion programs, received [Chinese] state funding, contributed to defense research, and produces robotic systems with clear military utility -- including autonomous mobility, surveillance, and payload capabilities.”
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The FCC should “investigate Unitree’s role in advancing [Chinese] military objectives and based on those findings, consider” adding it to the covered entities list, House China Committee members said in a letter to Chairman Brendan Carr, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The panel also asked Commerce to consider adding Unitree to the department’s imports entity list.