by Xinhua writers Deng Xianlai and Xu Yuan WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) — U.S. telecom carriers relying on supplies from China's Huawei Technology and ZTE Corporation can file applications starting Friday for federal reimbursement to cover the expenses for scraping Chinese-made gear from U.S. networks. The Federal Communications Commission's 1.9-billion-U.S.-dollar "rip and replace" program, available for telecom companies with 10 million or fewer customers, was rolled out following an allegation that Huawei and ZTE posed a threat to U.S. national security, a threat which has never been substantiated yet endlessly propagated by Washington. Small telecom companies have become indispensable to…