National Security

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

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

Posted on by China Tech Threat
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

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

WSJ: House Republicans Tell Commerce Dept. to Get Tougher on China

Posted on by China Tech Threat
According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are continuing to apply pressure to the Commerce Department to fortify export controls. In a letter led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and a group of top Republicans called for the “strengthening of export controls on semiconductors.” Signers included all other members of the China Task Force, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Andy Barr (R-KY), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Michael Waltz (R-FL), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Chris Stewart (R-UT), Robert J. Wittman (R-VA), Scott Perry (R-PA), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Mark Green (R-TN), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Austin Scott (R-GA), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Young Kim (R-CA). This follows a move this month by Republican… 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

Hudson Institute’s Arthur Herman on Decoupling from China

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week China Tech Threat founder Roslyn Layton sat down with Hudson Institute’s Arthur Herman. They discussed his recently launched Hamilton Commission, the #FutureofBIS and the importance of the U.S decoupling from China and ensuring that companies such as YMTC cannot enter the U.S market. See full discussion below:… 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

China Tech Threat Headlines International Event On Global Security Challenges

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last month, China Tech Threat’s Co-Founder John Strand spoke about the future security challenges at the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF) at the Latin American Parliament, or Parlatino, in Panama. The gathering brought together leading US Senators like Bill Cassidy and Marco Rubio; the President of Panama Laurentino Cortizo, members of the European Parliament, and international policymakers working in cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and cryptocurrency  PI-SF is the brainchild of Robert Pittenger, a former Congressman who led efforts to strengthen US policy toward China, notably with the FIRRMA and ECRA bills updating the Committee on Foreign Investment and export controls (ECRA). Pittenger co-authored a paper on reforms at CFIUS with China Tech Threat co-founder Roslyn Layton. Strand’s message was simple: policymakers must… Read More

US and Allies Accuse China of Major Cyberattacks

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Yesterday, the U.S., NATO and other allies are came together to call out China for malicious cyberattacks, including a March attack that exploited a flaw in Microsoft’s Exchange Server. It’s the first time that NATO has signed onto a formal condemnation of China’s cyber activities. They authorities are detailing more than 50 different techniques that Chinese state-sponsored actors used, and offering up recommended mitigations that businesses and organizations can take. The U.S. says that China’s Ministry of State Security is using contract hackers to conduct the attacks, many of which are being done for profit, including via ransomware. As part of Monday’s announcement, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against four Ministry of State Security hackers for a “multiyear campaign… 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