Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Michael Shanahan talks during bilateral meeting at Ministry of Defense in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 30, 2019. This meeting talks on cooperation on defense through trade and arms transfer, an underwater survey on shipwrecks military remains on Indonesian water, Indo-Pacific through ASEAN cooperation, conflict solution for the South China Sea. (Photo by Anton Raharjo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) Anton Raharjo | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

TOKYO — As the Trump administration works to isolate Chinese tech firm Huawei from developing a larger foothold in U.S. partner countries, acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan doubled down on U.S. concerns during a week-long trip through Asia. "Huawei is too close to the government," Shanahan said last week during the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, adding that Washington remains concerned sharing intelligence with partners on networks underpinned by Chinese technology. U.S. officials have long complained that Chinese intellectual property theft has cost the economy billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs and that it threatens national security. China maintains that it does not engage in intellectual property theft. Shanahan's comments follow Beijing's move to raise tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods, upping the ante in the ongoing tit-for-tat trade war. Trade talks collapsed in May, with intellectual property theft proving to be a major sticking point between the two parties.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has previously said that if U.S. allies proceed with Huawei's equipment, intelligence cooperation could be undermined. "One of the things that underlines an alliance is the ability to share information, and when we share information with allies and partners we have to have common standards of information assurance," Dunford told a House Appropriations subcommittee last month. "We have to be sure that our secrets are protected, whether it be intelligence or technology transfer." Echoing Dunford's sentiments, Shanahan told lawmakers at the hearing that "China aims to steal its way to a China-controlled global technological infrastructure, including 5G." "Huawei exemplifies the Chinese Communist Party's systemic, organized and state-driven approach to achieve global leadership in advanced technology," he said. Last year, the Pentagon halted sales of Huawei and ZTE mobile phones and modems on military bases around the world due to potential security risks. "These devices may pose an unacceptable risk to the department's personnel and mission," wrote Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn. The Pentagon reaffirmed Friday its policy on banning the devices still stands.