China-founded router maker TP-Link under investigation by US

Probe on national security grounds comes amid push against China-linked tech firms

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WASHINGTON - The US government has launched a national security investigation into TP-Link, the China-founded router maker whose equipment now dominates the American market and has been targeted in repeated Chinese cyber attacks, people familiar with the matter said.

The probe opens a new front in the US push to crack down on China-linked technology firms deemed a possible threat to US networks and data.

It singles out a company that had largely escaped national-security notice even as TP-Link came to lead the market for home and small-office routers, which relay information from the internet to devices such as computers and smartphones.

Investigators from the Commerce Department subpoenaed TP-Link in December seeking details, including its company structure, according to the people, who asked not to be identified. The inquiry was reported earlier on Dec. 18 by the Wall Street Journal.

The probe was launched in response to an August letter by the co-chairs of a bipartisan House of Representatives select committee on China, the people said. The lawmakers urged the agency to investigate the "glaring national security issue" posed by TP-Link's dominant US market share.

They also cited Chinese laws requiring companies to aid the state's military and intelligence objectives and frequent Chinese state-backed cyber attacks exploiting routers.