Chinese cranes in US harbors are likely Trojan horses.

The Pentagon sees giant Chinese-made cranes operating at US ports, including several shipping hubs used by the military, as a potential “Trojan horse” that China could use to gather intelligence on materiel being moved in and out of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Fresh from the Chinese “spy balloon” debacle, unnamed “national-security and Pentagon officials” have reportedly turned their attention to yet another alleged espionage tool. While the newspaper did not indicate whether there have been any actual cases of a crane being used for spying, it cited former US counterintelligence official Bill Evanina expressing concerns that it could provide remote access to disrupt the flow of goods.

“Cranes can be the new Huawei,” Evanina said, referring to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, whose products had been banned from the US market over similar spying concerns. “It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.
https://www.rt.com/news/572510-us-port-cranes-china-spying/

Washington’s Defense Intelligence Agency said in a 2021 classified assessment that China could potentially disrupt port traffic or gather data on military equipment being shipped, the WSJ said.

US national security officials have raised concerns in recent years over other Chinese-made equipment, such as baggage-screening systems and electric transformers.  A bill passed by Congress in December ordered a study of whether foreign-made cranes in US ports pose security risks.