We’re back to “reassessing the risk” of made-in-China technology geared to spy for the Chinese Communist Party and enable sabotage.
One day we are reassessing the risk of Chinese-made, cyberhack-enabling routers or Chinese-made medical monitors that can port private information to some unknown location. Another day, today, “U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them….” (“Rogue communication devices found in Chinese solar power inverters,” Reuters, May 14, 2025).
The story is about the power inverters used to hook solar panels and other electricity-providing technology into grids.
While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies that use them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.
However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said.
Over the past nine months, undocumented communication devices, including cellular radios, have also been found in some batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers….
Unexplained in the documentation but explicable, since:
“We know that China believes there is value in placing at least some elements of our core infrastructure at risk of destruction or disruption,” said Mike Rogers, a former director of the U.S. National Security Agency. “I think that the Chinese are, in part, hoping that the widespread use of inverters limits the options that the West has to deal with the security issue.”
In response to a question about this from Reuters, a Chinese embassy spokesman offers the usual rote umbrage: “We oppose the generalization of the concept of national security, distorting and smearing China’s infrastructure achievements.” Okay.
Let’s just assume that if there’s any way for China to wedge invasive sabotage-prepping components into Chinese-made things, into heart monitors or electric cars or power inverters, it shall be done. We’ve assessed the risk of using Chinese technology that can incorporate means of spying and sabotage. It’s a big risk. We must decouple from China at least to the extent of no longer giving the party-state remote-control access to our infrastructure and other technology.
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