China Tech Threat

Next Recommendation in BIS Agenda Series: Publish Emerging and Foundational Technology Lists

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Today, China Tech Threat released the second in a series of policy recommendations meant to help leaders at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) prevent adversaries from acquiring and weaponizing sensitive U.S.-made technologies. BIS Agenda Recommendation 2: Within 90 days of starting, the new BIS Director should publish Congress’ required lists of emerging and foundational technologies. The globalized world enables a relative free movement of goods and services, but this also allows the proliferation of weapons and items to be used for hostile purposes. Countries adopt export controls to manage the distribution of sensitive items to help ensure that people live in a secure environment. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the U.S. Department of… Read More

Axios cites CTT: Lawmakers warn of states using risky Chinese tech

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Drawing on the recent publication of a letter from Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Axios China reporter Bethany Allen- Ebrahimian published a piece about states continuing to purchase risky Chinese technology. The letter explains that they lawmakers want to ensure that technology and telecommunications equipment used by government agencies is secure. Citing China Tech Threat’s report on states purchasing good from Lenovo and Lexmark, Allen- Ebrahimian notes that “State-level procurement of tech represents an area of vulnerability.” Additionally, she quotes CTT founder Roslyn Layton who stated that “If you are a state chief information officer, there is… Read More

China Subverting US Efforts to Promote Secure Equipment

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Surveillance technology trade publication IPVM is attracting new attention for its work to expose how video surveillance companies Hikvision and Dahua, which are deliberately sowing confusion in the marketplace and flouting our national security laws. They do this by making false claims to the FCC about their Entity List status and marketing those claims as fact in business and promotional materials with the support of their US distributor.  IPVM has a record of published investigations on how Hikivision and Dahua technology is being used to support the surveillance and internment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, thus deeming them a national security risk by the FCC and subject to the revocation of FCC equipment authorizations. In a new letter to the FCC,… Read More

Coming Next Week: CTT’s Second Installation in Our Policy Recommendation Series for Incoming BIS Leaders

Posted on by China Tech Threat
The second policy recommendation from China Tech Threat to help leaders at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) prevent adversaries from acquiring and weaponizing sensitive U.S.-made technologies, will be launched next week. This recommendation explores a key policy issue for BIS: the process and efficacy to control new and innovative dual use technologies. Major Congressional reforms adopted in 2018 require BIS to take leadership in an interagency process to identify and report on emerging and foundational technologies in foreign countries, to assess what effect export controls imposed on these technologies may have on their development in the United States, and to judge the effectiveness of export controls on limiting the proliferation of emerging and foundational… Read More

UPDATED: Chinese Conditions on SK Hynix-Intel Deal Demands CFIUS Re-Review

Posted on by China Tech Threat
This is an updated version of a previous post found here. Stipulation to “Help a Third Party Competitor” Enter the Market Requires New Investigation Thousands of words have been spilled by China Tech Threat and our allies demonstrating that semiconductor design and manufacture are among the U.S.’ most important strategic assets. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center recently reaffirmed this by identifying semiconductors as one of five “technologies that may determine whether America remains the world’s leading superpower or is eclipsed by strategic competitors in the next few years.” (See the NCSC fact sheet here.) Accordingly, no one was surprised when CFIUS reviewed the sale of Intel’s NAND memory and storage unit to South Korean-based SK Hynix. As you will… Read More

Chinese Conditions on SK Hynix-Intel Deal Demands CFIUS Re-Review

Posted on by China Tech Threat
See updated version of this story here. Stipulation to “Help a Third Party Competitor” Enter the Market Requires New Investigation Thousands of words have been spilled by China Tech Threat and our allies demonstrating that semiconductor design and manufacture are among the U.S.’ most important strategic assets. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center recently reaffirmed this by identifying semiconductors as one of five “technologies that may determine whether America remains the world’s leading superpower or is eclipsed by strategic competitors in the next few years.” (See the NCSC fact sheet here.) Accordingly, no one was surprised when CFIUS reviewed the sale of Intel’s NAND memory and storage unit to South Korean-based SK Hynix. As you will recall, the purpose of… Read More

Biden Administration’s Year End Push To Crack Down On China Tech Threats

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As 2021 draws to a close, the Biden Administration appears to be making a push to crack down on U.S. trade with Chinese tech companies that only support the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its enhancement of military capabilities that directly threaten our national and economic security. China Tech Threat is encouraged by these developments and hopes they are just the start to a more aggressive 2022. On December 17, National Security Council (NSC) Officials met with deputies from various U.S. agencies to review a proposal to toughen restrictions on China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). The meeting is an encouraging development an CTT noted in a blog that SMIC isn’t the only Chinese chipmaker that should be… Read More

New BIS Director Must Address PRC Increasing Sophistication in Nuke & Space Tech

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The Pentagon’s 2021 Report to Congress shows the grimmest picture yet of the military and security developments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The PRC has “intelligentized” its military so that it can conduct simultaneous land, air, sea, cyber, and space operations to fight and win wars against a “strong enemy” like the U.S., coerce Taiwan, counter peripheral threats, and project global power. Its development in space is impressive and includes rocket launches, sophisticated satellite operations (including navigation integration with the Belt and Road Initiative to create a “Space Information Corridor”), and testing dual-use technologies for potential counterspace missions. The PRC’s space developments are integrated with hypersonics, including the recent feats of a missile circumnavigating the globe and then… Read More

Is the Biden Administration Finally Going to Crack Down on China’s Chipmakers?

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Bloomberg reports that the National Security Council (NSC) was set to meet yesterday to discuss tougher restrictions on China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). In September 2020, China Tech Threat described how China’s semiconductor sector is integrated with its military and noted the important report on SMIC by military intelligence expert James Mulvenon. However, SMIC’s designation as a military end user and ultimately to the Entity List seemed to lack teeth. Indeed as House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Mike McCaul (R-TX) told China Tech Threat in a recent exclusive, the licensing policy for SMIC is “utterly ineffective” and “appears designed to give the company access to nearly all the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, technologies, and other goods it needs… Read More

BIS Policy Recommendation: Strengthen Export Control Enforcement to Deter Violations

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Today, China Tech Threat released the first in a series of policy recommendations meant to help leaders at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) prevent adversaries from acquiring and weaponizing sensitive U.S.-made technologies. ·        BIS Agenda Recommendation 1: Strengthen Enforcement to Detect, Identify and Deter Export Control Violation Export controls provide a primary defense to keep sensitive dual-use and emerging technologies out of the hands of adversaries, like the People’s Republic of China (PRC), that seek to apply them against U.S. national security and economic interests. However, the tools to enforce compliance are relatively weak and may not fit the seriousness of threats posed by violators. Export controls are one of the few frontline defenses… Read More