The US regulatory body has proposed rules to block the purchase by telecommunications companies of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE and remove any of their equipment that is already available.

The Federal Communications Commission said the rules - which will be voted on November 19 - are part of an initiative to "protect the country's communications networks".

The two Chinese companies have been accused of threatening national security because of their close ties with the Beijing government, which they have repeatedly denied.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the new plan would prevent communications companies from using any support from the government's Universal Service Fund to buy equipment or services from companies that pose a threat to national security, including Huawei and ZTE.

The move marks another effort by Washington to penalize Huawei, a major telecommunications infrastructure provider and smartphone maker, already blacklisted that prevents it from accessing some US technology products and services.

"When it comes to 5G and America's security, we can't afford to take the risk and hope for the best," Pai said in a statement.
"We need to make sure our networks won’t harm our national security, threaten our economic security, or undermine our values."

“The concern is that hostile foreign actors could use hidden ‘backdoors’ to our networks to spy on us, steal from us, harm us with malware and viruses, or otherwise exploit our networks,” Pai said on Monday “And there are mounting reasons to believe that the Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.”
 
Pai said that while the US is upgrading to so-called 5G or fifth-generation wireless networks, "we cannot ignore the risk that the Chinese government is seeking to exploit network vulnerabilities to engage in espionage, malware and viruses and other a way to compromise our critical communications networks. "

Huawei says Washington has not provided evidence of any security risks posed by the company.