Advertisement
American firms selling sensitive tech to China must wake up to possible Communist Party seizure: US official
- US must step up vetting of Chinese firms buying from American businesses: official
- China denies theft, says its own advanced knowledge is evident in the fight against Covid-19
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A US State Department official has given American companies a “wake-up call” on China’s military-civil fusion strategy, as Washington plans further steps to limit China's access to sensitive US technology.
Christopher Ashley Ford, assistant secretary for International Security and Non-Proliferation, called for the US government and companies to step up the vetting of Chinese firms buying from American companies to ensure the technology could not be used to strengthen China’s military.
“Your Chinese partner may have had the best of purely commercial intentions when your cooperation began. But it is clear that if the Communist Party wants your technology your partner will be required to provide it,” Ford said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
Advertisement
Top US officials have drawn up plans to stop Chinese companies buying optical materials, radar equipment, semiconductors and other American products, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the plans.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded to the Reuters report, saying China’s policy was “above board,” and alluded to the argument that China showed technological superiority in its fight against the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Advertisement
“There is no such a thing as ‘theft’ or ‘diversion’ of foreign technology. In this fight against the Covid-19, China is actually ahead of the US in some areas. We used things in this fight that the US does not even have. How could the US accuse us of stealing from them things that they do not even have?” she said, speaking in the daily press briefing on Thursday.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x