US Blocks China Fibre Optics Deal Over Security

Fiber optics and other technologies add to globalization’s speed. But national-security concerns lead the US to apply the brakes. Plans for a joint venture between a New Mexico manufacturer of fiber-optic and solar-panel components and a Chinese investment firm were dropped after the government announced some "regulatory concerns." The US Committee on Foreign Investment – chaired by the US secretary of the treasury and including representatives of the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense, State and Energy among others – reviews transactions that could result in control of a US business by a foreign person for any effect on US national security. Once an alert is raised, as Stephanie Kirchgaessner reports for the Financial Times, US firms typically end joint-ventures plans voluntarily. Such abrupt endings also raise curiosity over forbidden technology. – YaleGlobal