Tech Integrity Project Commends Commerce IG’s Investigation into Counterstrategy on China’s Military-Civil Fusion
Washington, DC – Earlier this week, the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it was initiating an audit of the Bureau of Industry Security’s (BIS) efforts to combat China’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) program. Tech Integrity Project strongly supports this initiative. BIS’s role is critical to national security, and we must ensure that the agency is successfully combatting China’s attempts to steal U.S. innovations for their own military gain.
China’s MCF is a systematic initiative by the government of China to build a “world class” military by 2049 by integrating key private industries (artificial intelligence, 5G, biotechnology, big data, private universities, semiconductors, energy) with military objectives and needs. It further blends private industry and government in China. The Department of Defense releases annually a list of Chinese companies that it identifies as participating in MCF.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is an agency under the Department of Commerce that is responsible for issuing and enforcing export controls on dual-use technologies—technologies that are civilian in purpose but could have a potential military application, such as materials used for nuclear energy or advanced semiconductors. BIS’s imposition and enforcement of export restrictions is critical to ensure these technologies do not flow into adversarial countries for their misuse.
It is imperative that American companies and the federal government are on the same page with combatting China’s ambitions. Some American Big Tech companies have an unfortunate record of contracting with Chinese companies in support of PRC government objectives and even working to undermine U.S. export control policy:
- Microsoft actively lobbied against upcoming regulations from BIS that would close a loophole in export controls, whereby otherwise restricted technologies through the cloud. Microsoft just recently announced that it would let Chinese companies exploit these loopholes.
- Amazon provided cloud service to sanctioned Chinese surveillance technology firms.
- Apple planned to use YTMC made semiconductors, despite evidence of military connections, for their next generation iPhones. YMTC was later designated as a MCF participant.
While it may take possibly years for the Inspector General to complete its audit, we appreciate their recognition of BIS and its important role to prevent American technology from ending up in the hands of the Chinese military.
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About Tech Integrity Project: The Tech Integrity Project works to protect the national security and economic competitiveness of the United States by preventing Big Tech companies from aiding America’s adversaries. The organization works to educate presidential candidates and the public about the problematic business activities of U.S. tech companies in China and other adversarial nations, including capital investment, overseas research, transfer of trade secrets, and selling access to sensitive technologies.
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