Government Action

Exclusive: NY Reps. Call on Governor Hochul to Bolster State Cyber Protections

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Members of New York’s Congressional Delegation today issued a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul requesting details about the state’s “lax practices relating to IT cybersecurity and espionage protections” and purchases of restricted information technology equipment. It is being sent as the state looks to allocate new federal funding for IT systems after already spending tens of millions of dollars on technology products from Chinese state-owned and directed companies Lenovo and Lexmark, which have been restricted by federal agencies.China Tech Threat was provided an exclusive preview of the letter signed by Representatives Chris Jacobs, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and Lee Zeldin, which states: “Recently, it has come to light that New York State has spent tens of… Read More

BIS Adds 12 Chinese Companies to the Entity List

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), within the Dept. of Commerce, added a dozen Chinese companies on the Entity List over national security and foreign policy concerns. The action comes as we await confirmation of Alan Estevez to assume leadership of the relatively unknown, but increasingly crucial agency. One of these companies is semiconductor maker New H3C Technologies (H3C), which is partly owned by U.S. company Hewlett Packard Enterprise. For its 2020 fiscal year, HPE recorded about $737 million in sales to H3C. This is equal to about 3% of total HPE revenues – as well as purchases amounting to roughly $215 million. Additionally, HPE’s Chinese partner is H3C, Tsinghua Unigroup, which CTT has repeatedly flagged as… Read More

China’s AI startups face few barriers to buy American tech; BIS, DoD, and Treasury on the sidelines

Posted on by China Tech Threat
An explosive new report, Harnessed Lightning: How the Chinese Military Is Adopting Artificial Intelligence, from the Center for Security & Emerging Technology (CSET) is a wake-up call to America’s national security and strategic trade control policymakers. The report demonstrates how thousands of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startups can access American technologies, including advanced DRAM semiconductors. Of the 273 AI suppliers to the Chinese military identified in this study, less than two dozen are named in U.S. export control and sanctions regimes, whether the Entity List published by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List published by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or the List of… Read More

Air Force’s GPS Do-Over Serves as Reminder of the Cost of Insecure Technology

Posted on by China Tech Threat
In August 2019, a Pentagon report fretted over $30+ million spent by military personnel on Lexmark printers and Lenovo computers that had been banned from US military and intelligence networks. Since that time, China Tech Threat has explored how both companies have continued to sell $50 million worth of equipment to nearly forty states. We continue to ask questions to state leaders, including those from Maine, New Jersey and Tennessee that have ignored our Freedom of Information Act requests asking them to tell us how much they spent and where this equipment is used. Learn more about our efforts here. What we do know is that the US military continues to reject suspect Chinese technology. One prominent recent example comes… Read More

The Secure Equipment Act of 2021: From House to Senate to the President’s Desk

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week, the Senate moved quickly to pass by unanimous consent The Secure Equipment Act of 2021, just eight days after the House of Representatives passed it 420-4. The legislation now moves to President Joe Biden’s desk for him to sign into law. The bipartisan and bicameral legislation empowers the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restrict equipment authorization to companies – such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed firms Huawei and ZTE – on the agency’s “Covered Equipment or Services List.” In today’s increasingly connected world, we must animate our technology with our values,” said Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “That’s why our bipartisan legislation will keep compromised equipment out of U.S. telecommunications networks… Read More

CTT Panel: U.S. Policymakers Should Focus on “Chokepoint Technologies”

Posted on by China Tech Threat
During China Tech Threat’s “Unacceptable Risk: Expanding the FCC’s Covered List to Reflect Reality” forum Tuesday, participants roundly supported expanding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “Covered List.” Panelists Colin Andrews (Telecommunications Industry Association – TIA), Jordan Brunner (national security attorney), Martijn Rasser (Center for New American Security – CNAS), and Emily Weinstein (Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology – CSET) applauded Commissioner Brendan Carr’s call for the FCC to add Chinese drone maker DJI to the Covered List. Mr. Rasser called it a “very encouraging step” and, Mr. Brunner encouraged policymakers to not stop there. There is a “very strong case” that YMTC, a top chipmaker in China with military ties, ought to be added as well, Mr. Rasser… Read More

China Tech Threat Lauds FCC Calls to Expand “Unacceptable Risk” Threat List

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Commissioner Carr calls for agency to add drone maker DJI to Covered List China Tech Threat Co-Founder Dr. Roslyn Layton today lauded Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr’s announcement that SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. or Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd. (“DJI”) should be added to the FCC’s “Covered List” of restricted equipment providers. The 2019 Secure and Trusted Networks Act describes the process for entities to be identified and added to the list because of the unacceptable risk they pose to national security. Commissioner Carr made the announcement during China Tech Threat’s event today addressing the need to expand the Covered List. “We applaud Commissioner Carr’s leadership to bolster our national security by making DJI the next focus on the… Read More

CNAS’ New Report Proposes a “whole-of-nation approach” on Tech Competition

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week the Center for New American Studies (CNAS) published its third report in the series entitled U.S. National Technology Strategy project. The latest report, From Plan to Action: Operationalizing a U.S. National Technology Strategy, “focuses on concrete and pragmatic measures that U.S. policymakers should take to operationalize a national technology strategy.” The executive summary notes “four premises to the security and technology competition” that help inform the paper and the recommendations it offers for policy makers. These include: the utility of industrial policies, the convergence of national and economic security, gaps in knowledge, and the need for international partnerships. From there, CNAS provides four recommendations for the Administration to help build a well-rounded technology policy approach: Bolster the Department… Read More

The Hill and White House Get Tighter on the CCP’s Abuses

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Monday urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to add Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Company (YMTC) to the department’s Entity List, citing ties to the Chinese military. The lawmakers wrote in the letter that urgency is needed to make sure memory chip supply does not become a “point of leverage” for China over the U.S. China’s “irrational state subsidies and non-financial support” to firms such as YMTC pose a threat to U.S. and its allies because memory chips have applications in defense, aerospace, artificial intelligence, they note. Both men sit on committees that have jurisdiction over export controls; McCaul is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Hagerty is the… Read More

Rep. Pfluger: We Are Exporting Our Innovation and Subsidizing China’s Ability to Make It

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee took up the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act, which seeks to boost U.S. competitiveness with China. During the markup (see video starting around 3 hr, 31 min) , Representative August Pfluger (R-TX11) introduced an amendment to add Yangtze Memory Technologies Company (YMTC) to the U.S. Entity List.   “[Semiconductors] are a vital component to every single device, computing product that we use,” Rep. Pfluger said. “The [People’s Republic of China] seeks self-sufficiency in semiconductor manufacturing so it can control the means of production, supply its growing demand for semiconductors both in military and also civilian use, and increase its leverage over trading partners.” In the U.S. Air Force, Rep.… Read More