President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris announcing the China Task Force at the Pentagon
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s new China Task Force will continue work already being done at the Pentagon by taking a hard look at the defense industry’s supply chain, and potential backdoor ties to China in funding and supply.
“What is clear is that this issue of technology competition is of increasing importance in the US-China relationship” Ely Ratner, a top aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who has been tapped to lead a new China Task Force, said today. It’s “a huge priority for the administration.”
The task force isn’t looking to make sweeping policy changes, but one focus will be on technology issues, building on work the Pentagon has been doing for several years to try and stamp out backdoor Chinese financing in the defense industry supply chain.
“We’re going to go out and survey the department and get a sense of where are the biggest challenges, and where might there be an opportunity for secretary-level and leadership-level intention to move some of these challenges forward,” Ratner said.
The Trump administration began trying to stomp out Chinese hardware in systems used by the US military, most specifically in small drones and other niche technologies, and the Biden team appears ready to redouble those efforts.
“Many of the issues related to technology have to do with defensive security issues, and we have to make sure that DoD is adequately organized to be able to answer the kind of questions that the interagency is asking, and also as a relates to both innovation and supply chain and technology protection issues,” Ratner said.
He added that there’s been work going on already within the department, most visibly within the “Trusted Marketplace” program that kicked off in December, that hopes to marry small US tech companies with vetted sources of funding like venture capital firms and large defense contractors. That project was spearheaded by Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief in the Trump administration.
Lord hasn’t been replaced yet; Stacy Cummings, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, is filling the role temporarily.
Pentagon officials worried for much of last year that supply chain disruptions and the economic fallout from COVID shutdowns could lead to electronics firms casting a wide net looking for new capital, allowing Beijing to take advantage of the situation.
One major concern is the microelectronics market, where Chinese companies control a full 75% of the manufacturing base, while 98% of packaging takes place in Asia.
In September, Lord warned that “while the US continues to serve as the leader in microelectronics research and development, our lack of ability to manufacture, package and test, has resulted in the loss of employment opportunities, economic growth and the lack of ability to fulfill DoD requirements.” She added that the Pentagon was working to develop a “microelectronics strategy,” which would rely on things like public and private partnerships to rebuild the microelectronics manufacturing and testing industry to the US.
The new sharp focus on China looks to run across the new administration.
President Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time Wednesday night. A White House statement said Biden raised “fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices,” along with human rights issues and “preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific” region. “I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people,” Biden tweeted.
White House spokeswoman Jen Pskai said today that part of the administration’s strategy for confronting China “includes ensuring that we are strengthening our own approach at home,” and among allies. “In all of the conversations with Europeans, with allies in the region, China and the relationship with China has been a pivotal part of those conversations. So that’s also part of our strategy.”
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