"Next it'll be Chinese spy furniture": Chinese cranes spying tools claim leaves internet skeptical

Top American security officials have expressed their concerns regarding Chinese cranes being used as “Trojan Horses” for Beijing at US ports. The claim was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, March 5.

Officials told the WSJ that these Chinese cranes, widely operated at ports used by the US military, reportedly contain sophisticated sensors that have the ability to monitor logistics, including the source and destination of the containers that are being carried. The WSJ promoted concerns that the hardware used in these cranes could act as a spying tool.

This left netizens skeptical about these claims made by officials, which comes after recent discourse with Chinese spy balloon. Twitter user Danny Haiphong sarcastically wrote that "Chinese spy furniture, children's toys, and linens" would be next on the list, adding that "the United States' new cold war with China" was beginning to appear more deranged than the last one.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, brushed off the claims regarding the Chinese cranes as "paranoia."

---

"Where does it end?" People troll U.S. officials for their concerns regarding Chinese cranes' espionage

Netizens have expressed their skepticism surrounding the accusation by U.S. officials that China is spying on their military through cargo cranes. Check out some of these reactions below:

The Pentagon, along with national security officials, reportedly reviewed the vulnerabilities connected to these ship-to-shore cranes manufactured by ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned firm.

The Shanghai-based heavy industry company is among the world’s largest crane makers. The United States has been using machines manufactured by ZPMC for about two decades.

Mao Ning said that America was being paranoid about these Chinese cranes and that their concerns were misleading to the general public. In the WSJ report, it was said that items manufactured by ZPMC have a 70% global market share.

Nearly 80% of the cranes that are used at US ports are made by ZPMC. These Chinese cranes, along with other ZPMC machines, are said to be relatively cheaper than the ones manufactured by Western suppliers.

The cargo cranes made in China are reportedly delivered to the United States fully assembled. Sometimes these are operated by Chinese nationals who visit on American visas. However, national security officials in the United States have not provided any details on any instances of these cranes being exploited in the past.

The issue, however, has been privately on Washington’s radar. The $858 billion defense bill that President Joe Biden signed late last year contained a request from lawmakers to obtain a study from the Transportation Department into national security and cybersecurity threats posed by cranes at US ports, manufactured in other countries.

The latest scrutiny of Chinese cranes used at the United States’ major shipping ports, followed by the recent spy balloon incident, reflects what American officials are now publicly acknowledging as a wide range of espionage tools at China’s disposal. But it remains unclear when and if these spying methods have been executed and exploited.

The evolving nature of modern espionage has had the most prominent impact on the West’s outlook on technological vulnerabilities, which has led to calls for bans on equipment produced by Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei.