A possible ban on TP-Link routers -- one of the most popular router brands in the country -- is gaining momentum, as more than half a dozen federal departments and agencies back the proposal, according to a Washington Post report.
The news first broke in December of last year, when The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators at the Commerce, Defense and Justice departments had all opened probes into the company due to national security risks stemming from its ties to China. Since then, news on the TP-Link front has been relatively quiet.
Now, the proposal has gained interagency approval.
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“Commerce officials concluded TP-Link Systems products pose a risk because the US-based company’s products handle sensitive American data and because the officials believe it remains subject to jurisdiction or influence by the Chinese government,” says the Washington Post report.
TP-Link’s ties to the Chinese government are only allegations. The company -- technically called TP-Link Systems -- has strenuously denied to me in the past that it’s a Chinese company.
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“As an independent US company, no foreign country or government, including China, has access to or control over the design and production of our products,” a TP-Link spokesperson told CNET.
TP-Link was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1996 by two brothers, Jeffrey (Jianjun) Chao and Jiaxing Zhao. In Oct. 2024, two months after members of the House Select Committee called for an investigation into TP-Link routers, the company split into two: TP-Link Technologies and TP-Link Systems.
The latter is headquartered in Irvine, CA, and has approximately 500 employees in the US and 11,000 in China, according to the Washington Post report. TP-Link Systems is owned by Jeffrey (Jianjun) Chao and his wife.
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