Important Takeaways:
- Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed during an interview on Sunday, a week before he steps down, that China has penetrated America’s water treatment plants, electric grid, and other critical civilian infrastructure, and is lying “in wait” for an opportunity to cyberattack at a time and place of its choosing.
- Asked on CBS’s 60 Minutes about Chinese penetration of U.S. cyber and infrastructure, Wray said China’s cyber program is the largest in the world and has stolen more of Americans’ personal and corporate data than every nation combined. Then, he added:
- But even beyond the cyber theft. There’s another part of the Chinese cyber threat that I think has not gotten the attention publicly that it I think desperately deserves. And that is Chinese government’s pre-positioning on American civilian critical infrastructure. To lie in wait on those networks to be in a position to wreak havoc and can inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing.
- Wray said China has already infiltrated malware into critical American infrastructure.
- “Things like water treatment plants. We’re talking about transportation systems. We’re talking about targeting of our energy sector, the electric grid, natural gas pipelines. And recently we’ve seen targeting of our telecommunications systems,” he said.
- Wray said China has also been listening into Americans’ calls.
- Joshua Steinman, former National Security Council senior director for cyber security during the Trump administration, posted on X:
- This enrages me. I left them with the tools they needed to confront this. And it appears those tools went unused for four years. Total mismanagement.
- Wray called stepping down “one of the hardest decisions” he has ever made, but said he had little choice after President-Elect Donald Trump made it clear he would be replaced.
- Trump has nominated Kash Patel, former deputy Director of National Intelligence and Pentagon chief of staff for the role.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- “Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party is just filthy all over there. They control the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal — both the Atlantic and Pacific ends,” Johnson said, describing the current scope of Chinese influence.
- “Lots of reports about China cozying up to Panama, having more and more influence over how the canal is operated, and 40 percent of all American container loads that leave our country go through the Panama Canal. It is an asset that is uniquely important to us,” he said, explaining that “73 percent of all the traffic in the Panama Canal is American traffic, either imports or exports, overwhelmingly American energy, liquefied natural gas and American agricultural products.”
- “And as you noted, we used to control the thing until 1999,” he said, asserting that he believes President-elect Donald Trump “should have the ability to go evaluate whether or not we can get a willing buyer, willing seller situation.”
- Host and Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle noted that he witnessed the Chinese influence firsthand when visiting the canal in 2017.
- “I think most of, if not all of the ships were all carrying Chinese flags. I was just blown away by it,” he remarked.
- “Well, and you’re right to bring up how many ships are flagged with the Chinese flag,” Johnson responded, although he explained that the scope of the issue is much bigger.
- “And this is not just a problem for the Panama Canal. It’s a problem for supply chains. Generally, during COVID, you had Chinese carriers who were discriminating against American goods at our own ports,” the congressman said, revealing that 60 percent of U.S. container loads that were going back to Asia “were going back empty at a time when American ag[ricultural] products were rotting on the dock, literally rotting on the dock. They were doing that purposely.”
- “My bill, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, passed last Congress, was signed into law and really forced the Chinese to start to treat us more fairly
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Western experts have publicly called on China to be more transparent about a viral outbreak overwhelming its hospitals — as data shows the virus is growing in the US.
- Beijing has downplayed footage of overcrowded waiting rooms and wards posted on social media, saying respiratory infections are ‘less severe’ and ‘smaller in scale’ compared to last year.
- That has led some to fear there are similarities with the current situation and the Covid outbreak in 2019, which was initially played down by China.
- It is thought China’s outbreak is being fueled by the relatively unknown virus human metapneumovirus (HPMV), which normally causes cold-like symptoms such as a blocked nose, headache, shivering and tiredness.
- Sanjaya Senanayake, infectious disease expert associate professor of medicine at The Australian National University, said it was ‘vital for China to share its data on this outbreak in a timely manner’, including ‘data about who is getting infected.’
- He added: ‘Also, we will need genomic data confirming that HMPV is the culprit, and that there aren’t any significant mutations of concern. Such genomic data will also guide vaccine development.’
- Their warning comes as the US experiences its own increase in HMPV cases, with positive test percentages doubling from the beginning to the end of December.
- According to the latest CDC data, just under 300 positive test results reported during the last week of December, the latest figures available.
- The US CDC said it is ‘monitoring’ the cases in China but believe they are ‘not currently a cause for concern in the US.’
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- A mobile communications system that can move through complex terrains has been developed by Chinese scientists
- China has unveiled the world’s first mobile 5G base station, which, after passing rigorous tests, is now poised for deployment on the battlefield.
- Jointly developed by China Mobile Communications Group and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), it can provide unprecedented high-speed, low-latency and extremely secure and reliable data exchange services to at least 10,000 users within a 3km (1.8 mile) radius.
- Even when PLA troops are advancing at 80km/h (50mph) in complex terrains, such as mountains or cities, and are subjected to electromagnetic interference, the system can still maintain an uninterrupted total throughput of 10 gigabits per second and a latency of less than 15 milliseconds.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The Treasury Department said Monday China hackers broke into its systems earlier this month.
- In a letter informing lawmakers of the breach, the department said Chinese hackers remotely accessed Treasury workstations and stole unclassified documents.
- The hack is being treated as a “major cybersecurity incident.”
- The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said China “has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks, and we are even more opposed to the spread of false information against China for political purposes.
- “We have stated our position many times regarding such groundless accusations that lack evidence,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
- The department said it was working with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to assess the exact scope of the hack.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has added hundreds of new missiles and 100 more nuclear warheads as part of a military buildup designed for a future war with the United States, according to a Pentagon report made public Wednesday.
- The latest survey of Chinese military power also for the first time reveals extensive PLA preparations for sophisticated information warfare operations against the United States, including the use of “deep fake” online posts and cyber-enabled psychological warfare. The goal is to target U.S. military leaders’ decision making in a regional conflict and to demoralize troops and sow divisions in U.S. society, Pentagon analysts said.
- The latest report provides new details on extensive PLA advances in weapons systems, doctrine and training. The efforts include practice missile strikes against U.S. aircraft carriers and warships during operations against Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing has vowed to annex as early as 2027.
- “The PLA increasingly views warfare as a confrontation between opposing operational systems, rather than annihilation of opposing mechanized military forces,” the report said. “Following this logic, PLA writings refer to systems destruction warfare as the next way of war, transforming from mechanized warfare to an informatized and intelligentized style.”
- On the information warfare front, the PLA calls its activities “cognitive domain operations” described in the report as “an asymmetric capability to deter U.S. or third-party entry into a future conflict, or as an offensive capability to shape perceptions or polarize a society,” the report said.
- The operations target the U.S. government and military, media organizations, businesses, academic and cultural institutions and policy communities.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Key U.S. air bases in Japan and elsewhere in the region until recently were safe havens from enemy attack and provided rapid power projection with airstrikes for more than three decades, the report by the Stimson Center said.
- “That sanctuary age has now ended, and nowhere more than in the Indo-Pacific,” the report warns. “China has invested heavily in building a large and sophisticated arsenal of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles that can reach U.S. bases across the region.”
- Chinese military strategists view American air power as weakest in forward air bases and, in particular, they understand that runways cratered from missile strikes would prevent warplanes and support aircraft from taking off and landing during critical time periods in a conflict. The report concludes that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) precision missile strikes on runways and taxiways in the region would allow the Chinese military to gain air superiority, a key advantage in war.
- The Air Force has adopted a new operating strategy called agile combat employment the seeks to disperse forces from main operating bases “for survival.”
- “We then quickly reaggregate our forces for lethality, in the time and place of our choosing, and deliver effects,” Gen. Schneider said. Adm. Sam Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has said delaying a rapid Chinese attack on Taiwan is a key priority.
- He has adopted what is called a “hellscape” strategy of using thousands of uncrewed weapons — both aerial and maritime — to delay Chinese forces until reinforcements arrive.
- “Above all, American political and military leaders — as well as the American public — should be under no illusions: there will be no refuge or rest from the long reach of Chinese missiles for U.S. air bases in a war,” the report said.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- China has been supporting Russia’s economy since the start of the Ukraine war by buying its oil while supplying it with everything from microelectronics to washing machines.
- Meanwhile, Beijing has been getting its own strategic benefit: a real-world case study in how to circumvent Western sanctions.
- Russia’s economy has been surprisingly resilient throughout the Ukraine war, but it has shown fresh signs of cracking under Western pressure recently. In the past week, the Russian ruble plunged to its lowest point since the early days of the conflict after the U.S. imposed new banking sanctions.
- Moscow owes much of its economic durability to its oil exports and its cooperation with Beijing, as the leaders of both countries seek to challenge the U.S.-led world order.
- “Sanctions can be really disruptive for any production sector that is enmeshed in global supply chains,” Fishman said. “That makes China highly vulnerable.”
- While the U.S. has already imposed sanctions on China, including export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and measures against telecommunications giant Huawei, a crisis over Taiwan could lead to an economic war of a different magnitude.
- Full-scale financial sanctions by the West would disrupt the country’s financial system, interrupt trade and put $3.7 trillion in Chinese overseas bank assets and reserves at risk, according to a report last year by the Atlantic Council and Rhodium Group think tanks.
- One major lesson for China from Russia’s experience has been the importance of preparation, analysts say. Before the war, Russia had sought to diversify its foreign reserves, de-dollarize its economy and build domestic financial plumbing. Even though its success was mixed, those moves helped shield the Russian economy and buy it time to adapt.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The Biden administration has secured the release of three Americans from detention in China in exchange for unnamed Chinese persons held in the U.S.
- China released Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung after years of diplomatic negotiations between the administration and Chinese officials.
- The U.S. government considered the trio to be wrongfully detained on bogus charges. Mr. Swidan had been detained since 2012 on a drug conviction, while Mr. Li and Mr. Lueng were accused of espionage.
- Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Wednesday he worked for years to release Mr. Li, a Long Island resident. He also credited President Biden for raising the detainees’ plight with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- “For the families of those Americans newly freed by the Chinese government, this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for,” Mr. Schumer said. “Soon, Kai Li will finally be reunited with his family because President Biden and his Administration also kept the faith and never stopped working to secure Mr. Li’s release and the release of other Americans wrongfully detained by the Chinese government.”
- The Congressional-Executive Commission on China in September said there are more Americans held in China than anywhere else in the world.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- A top NATO military official on Monday urged businesses to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly, in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.
- “If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence,” the chair of NATO’s military committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, said in Brussels.
- Speaking at an event of the European Policy Centre think tank, he described deterrence as going far beyond military capability alone, since all available instruments could and would be used in war.
- “We’re seeing that with the growing number of sabotage acts, and Europe has seen that with energy supply,” Bauer said.
- “We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with Mr. Putin. And the same goes for Chinese-owned infrastructure and goods. We actually have a deal with (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping).”
- Bauer noted western dependencies on supplies from China, with 60% of all rare earth materials produced and 90% processed there. He said chemical ingredients for sedatives, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and low blood pressure medicines were also coming from China.
- “We are naive if we think the Communist Party will never use that power. Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation,” Bauer stressed.
- “Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly. Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
