MIT is the latest top U.S. education institution to unplug telecom equipment made by Huawei and other Chinese companies to avoid losing federal funding.
Collaborations with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia would face additional administrative review procedures, Zuber added.
“The institute will revisit collaborations with these entities as circumstances dictate,” she said.
The move is a response to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Donald Trump signed into law in August 2018. A provision of that legislation bans recipients of federal funding from using telecommunications equipment, video recording services and networking components made by Huawei or ZTE. Also on the blacklist are Chinese audio-video equipment providers Hikvision, Hytera, Dahua Technology and their affiliates.
U.S. universities that fail to comply with the NDAA by August 2020 risk losing federal research grants and other government funding.
“We’re disappointed by MIT’s decision ....We trust the U.S. judicial system will ultimately reach the right conclusion,” Huawei said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, ZTE did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada in December 2018 at the request of the United States on charges of bank and wire fraud in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry referred questions to the two companies, but said Chinese firms were required to abide by local laws.
Other Schools Drop Huawei and ZTE
The University of California at Berkeley has removed a Huawei video-conferencing system, a university official said, while the UC campus in Irvine is working to replace five pieces of Chinese-made audio-video equipment.UC San Diego, meanwhile, has gone a step further. In August 2018, the university said that for at least six months it would not accept funding from or enter into agreements with Huawei, ZTE Corporation, and other Chinese audio-video equipment providers, according to an internal memo.
Other U.S. schools, such as the University of Wisconsin, are in the process of reviewing their suppliers.