My Take | Industrial espionage part and parcel of US foreign policy
- Sabotaging another country’s hi-tech industries and their top companies has long been a clearly sanctioned American strategy
Last week it was 5G; this week, drones. Washington has issued an alert warning against Chinese-made commercial unmanned aircraft for supposedly posing a threat to the cybersecurity of American businesses and critical US infrastructures.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency didn’t name names, but it’s fairly obvious it’s going after DJI, the global market leader based in Shenzhen, and another major mainland drone maker Yuneec.
Is this the new tactic of a bullying hegemon? Bullying, yes; new, hardly!
Any hi-tech company with a Chinese-sounding name could be declared a threat to the United States. Not a surprise, though, if you had followed Edward Snowden. The Quadrennial Intelligence Review Final Report 2009 – one of many classified documents leaked by the American whistle-blower – presciently predicted the rise of a foreign technological challenger or challengers within the time frame of 10 to 15 years when America could be behind in a hi-tech field. That day is here; just think 5G.