National Security

New Study Confirms China’s Ability to Spy… Through the Fridge

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Chinese spy balloons have been dominating headlines over the past few days. As the New York Times reported, “Balloon Incident Reveals More Than Spying as Competition with China Intensifies.” While the U.S. recovers the balloon and takes a closer look at the findings, it will not only be interesting to know what may have been communicated to China, but also what technology was used to do it. For example, were there any chips from China’s bellwethers (SMIC, YMTC, and CXMT)? All that said, this is not the only news of China spying that should have us up in arms. Late last month, The Telegraph and others reported, “China Can Use People’s Fridges and Laptops to Spy on Them, UK Warned.”… Read More

The FCC Makes a Statement: Support Taiwan, Fortify U.S. National Security, and Ban Invasive Chinese Tech

Posted on by China Tech Threat
This week, Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr visited Taiwan to participate in meetings with Taiwanese government officials. This is the first time that a FCC Commissioner has visited Taiwan and the fourth U.S. delegation over the last several months. This U.S. delegation trip to Taiwan reinforces the importance of U.S.-Taiwanese relations as economic, strategic, and tech partners against China. According to Axios, Commissioner Carr “hopes his visit sends a strong message that ‘a free and democratic Taiwan — one that is independent from the [Chinese Communist Party]’s brutal authoritarianism — is vital to America’s own prosperity.’ He added that Taiwan’s chip industry is also important to American interests and economic growth.” This trip is the latest addition to a list… Read More

Bipartisan Group of Senators Urges U.S. Intelligence Community to Investigate YMTC’s Risks to National Security

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Last week Senators John Cornyn, Marco Rubio, Charles Schumer, and Mark Warner sent a letter to Director of Intelligence Avril Hanes warning about the national security threat of Chinese memory chip maker YMTC and its impending partnership with Apple. Seizing on the growing awareness that Apple is preparing to put YMTC chips in the iPhone 14, the Senators noted that, “Such a decision would introduce significant privacy and security vulnerabilities to the global digital supply chain that Apple helps shape given YMTC’s extensive, but often opaque, ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and concerning PRC-backed entities.” This letter is especially timely in light of recent congressional efforts to support the American semiconductor industry through the CHIPS Act. Spending billions… Read More

New Forbes Column: Commerce Department Inaction on YMTC Harms Americans, Shames Sec. Raimondo

Posted on by China Tech Threat
For months China Tech Threat and other national security leaders have pressed the Commerce Department to put Chinese military-linked chipmaker YMTC on the Entity list. That move would prohibit U.S. firms from selling high-tech tools to YMTC – a much-needed step to protect Americans’ privacy and national security. Unfortunately, YMTC this week announced the ability to develop 232-layer chips, a major technological breakthrough. Any new Commerce Department export controls targeting YTMC will now be too little, too late. Forbes columnist and China Tech Threat co-founder Roslyn Layton’s new column elaborates on the problem: The Commerce Department is clearly failing on its mission to promote and protect US technologies from China. Many of its existing restrictions are not enforced, and bad… Read More

Bipartisan Group of Senators Pushes Commerce Department to Restrict China’s YMTC

Posted on by China Tech Threat
As Chinese military-backed chipmaker YMTC continues to depend on American technology to gain market share in the semiconductor sector, seven U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo characterizing the company as an “immediate threat” and urging it to be placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List – meaning American firms would be banned from selling key technologies to YMTC. While senators including Bill Hagerty, Marco Rubio, and Mark Warner have long raised the dangers of YMTC and called for placement on the Entity List, this letter represents the most definitive and bipartisan statement from Congress to date on the issue, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senators John Cornyn, James Risch, and Mike Crapo joining Hagerty,… Read More

Estevez Senate Hearing: Mixed Messages on YMTC Continue

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Under Secretary Alan Estevez testified to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday about issues related to U.S. Export Controls. There is still no clarity what the U.S. government’s stance is on Chinese military-linked chipmaker YMTC. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia told Estevez that American memory chip manufacturers have complained to him about YMTC’s activities, which he said are “typical of a lot of the new Chinese memory and chip-related firms.” That is to say, they are tied to the Chinese military and benefit from massive subsidies designed to kill off foreign competitors. Sen. Warner also noted a recent Financial Times story detailing YMTC’s ties to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications firm on the Commerce Department’s… Read More