American officials are becoming increasingly worried that massive cranes produced in China and in use at numerous ports throughout the United States, including some utilized by the military, might offer Beijing an undetected spying mechanism, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Certain national security and Pentagon authorities have likened ZPMC’s ship-to-shore cranes to a Trojan horse.

Though they are similarly well-built and cost-effective, these cranes feature advanced sensors that can record and monitor the origin and destination of containers, leading to concerns that China might obtain information about materials being transported in or out of the United States to aid U.S. military campaigns globally.

According to Bill Evanina, a former high-ranking U.S. counterintelligence official, the cranes could also enable someone to remotely interfere with the movement of goods.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the U.S. apprehensions regarding the cranes as an attempt motivated by paranoia to hinder trade and economic collaboration with China.

“Playing the ‘China card’ and floating the ‘China threat’ theory is irresponsible and will harm the interests of the U.S. itself,” it said, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Written by staff