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| Photo Credit: CNN.. |
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has determined Huawei equipment installed by the Chinese government in Washington could disrupt U.S. nuclear communications, according to a report by CNN.
The Chinese
funded project targeted a whopping $100 million to build an ornate Chinese
garden at the National Arboretum in Washington DC but was a smoke screen to spy
on American nuclear communications. The project would be complete with temples,
pavilions and a 70-foot white pagoda, according to CNN.
US
counterintelligence officials noted that the pagoda would be strategically
placed on one of the highest points in Washington DC, just two miles from the
US Capitol, a perfect spot for signals intelligence collection, multiple
sources told CNN.
Chinese
officials wanted to build the pagoda with materials shipped to the US in
diplomatic pouches, which US Customs officials are barred from inspecting, the sources
told CNN.
US officials
quietly cancelled the project describing it as a significant escalation of
China’s espionage activities on American soil. According to CNN, federal
officials have investigated Chinese land purchases near critical
infrastructure, and shot down a high-profile regional consulate believed by the
US government to be a hotbed of Chinese spies and uncovered efforts to plant
listening devices near sensitive military government facilities.
The FBI
uncovered pertains to Chinese-made Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US
military bases in the rural Midwest, according to CNN. The reported equipment was
capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department
communications, including those used by US Strategic Command which oversees
American nuclear weapons, over a dozen sources told the CNN on conditions of
anonymity.
F.E Warren
Air Force Base, a strategic missile base is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming
located in an area near a host of cell towers using Huawei equipment.
The more
than a dozen sources familiar with the situation told CNN Huawei equipment could
intercept both commercial cell traffic and military airwaves.
"This
gets into some of the most sensitive things we do," said one former FBI
official with knowledge of the investigation. "It would impact our ability
for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad. "That goes
into the 'BFD' category."
"If it
is possible for that to be disrupted, then that is a very bad day," this
person added.