WASHINGTON — China’s state-owned rail equipment manufacturer is showing interest in building new rail cars for the Washington Metro system, the Washington Post reports, despite concerns expressed in Congress about cybersecurity and economic issues of such a plan.
CRRC sent 11 employees to a January event for companies interested in bidding on the system’s 8000-series cars, a contract which could be worth more than $1 billion for the building of more than 800 cars. Hyundai Rotem and Alstom have also indicated interest.
Cybersecurity experts have suggested that China could potentially use the equipment to conduct electronic spying in the nation’s capital, and in a statement Sunday, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Metro “needs to share a sense of urgency that I haven’t seen from their response so far.”
Here’s a country that economically wants to bury us and like the fools that we are we will help them.
Metro maybe ought to just reject their bids…
Oh, c’mon, spying via Rail Car?
If an electronic device made in China could spy, then there are thirty such items in every home and every office in and on every street corner in Washington.
If China wanted to they could listen in on every mobile phone conversation in the world, just as our own government can (and in many cases probably does). If China wanted to (I’m quite sure they couldn’t care less) they could tap my wi-fi. They don’t need a rail car to do it.