Biden’s order to limit US investment in Chinese tech labeled too tentative by House Foreign Affairs chairman

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DOD header 2020

Biden’s order to limit US investment in Chinese tech labeled too tentative by House Foreign Affairs chairman

‘SMALL YARD, HIGH FENCE’: President Joe Biden has signed a narrowly focused executive order aimed at curbing U.S. investment in critical Chinese national security-related technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and microelectronics.

The executive order cites the threat from “countries of concern” that are “acquiring and diverting the world’s cutting-edge technologies, for the purposes of achieving military dominance,” and which “significantly enhances their ability to conduct activities that threaten the national security of the United States.” But in an annex, only one such country is named: China, as well as its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

“I find that this threat constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security of the United States,” Biden said in a letter to congressional leaders. “And that certain United States investments risk exacerbating this threat.”

The order, which takes effect next year, gives the Treasury Department authority to prohibit certain investments in narrowly defined areas of technology “that pose the most acute national security risks.”

“The program complements the United States’ existing export control and inbound screening tools with a ‘small yard, high fence’ approach,” the White House said in a statement. “We are committed to taking narrowly targeted actions to protect our national security while maintaining our longstanding commitment to open investment.”

McCAUL: MORE AGGRESSIVE ACTION NEEDED: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the order to limit U.S. investments in China as “long overdue,” but he classified it as among “half measures” that don’t go nearly far enough.

“While I’m pleased to see the Biden administration restrict new outbound investments in China, the failure to include existing technology investments as well as sectors like biotechnology and energy is concerning,” McCaul said in a statement. “The administration scaling back — at a time where aggressive action is needed more than ever — continues the trend of appeasing industry at the cost of national security.”

“We need to stop the flow of American dollars and know-how supporting the CCP’s military and surveillance technology rather than solely pursuing half measures that are taking too long to develop and go into effect,” McCaul said.

CHINA: US ENGAGED IN ‘TECH BULLYING’: In a statement posted on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Beijing sharply criticized Biden’s executive order, calling it a move to “selfishly pursue U.S. supremacy at the expense of others.”

“This is blatant economic coercion and tech bullying, an act that seriously violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, undermines the international economic and trading order, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and hurts the interests of both China and the US and the global business community,” the statement said. “China will follow the developments closely and resolutely safeguard our rights and interests.”

ROGERS: ‘U.S. WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED’: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) has a message for China and its Russian ally, whose warships recently conducted a joint exercise near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, just outside U.S. territorial waters.

“It’s clear that China and Russia’s recent naval patrol was meant to intimidate the United States,” Rogers said in a statement. “Continued cooperation between China and Russia is a stark reminder of the challenge we face: for the first time in history, the United States must deter two near-peer nuclear adversaries simultaneously.”

The 11 warships left without incident after the U.S. dispatched four destroyers and a P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft to keep an eye on them.

“By investing in the modernization of our nuclear deterrent, the bedrock of U.S. national security, the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act sends a strong message to both China and Russia,” Rogers said. “The United States cannot be intimidated.”

EDITORIAL: US MILITARY CAN’T IGNORE CHINA AND RUSSIA’S ALASKA FLOTILLA

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HAPPENING AS SOON AS TODAY: “The Biden administration is expected to unveil its request for billions of dollars in additional funding for weapons and other aid to Ukraine,” Politico reported, citing “two people with direct knowledge of the timing of the request.”

The request, which is expected to also fund weapons transfers to Taiwan, comes as public support for continued military assistance to Ukraine is flagging, especially among Republican voters, according to recent opinion polls.

“For people that might be concerned that the costs financially are getting too high, you know, we would ask them to consider what those costs, not just in treasure but in blood, perhaps even American blood, could be Putin subjugates Ukraine and then sets his sights on our NATO allies,” said NSC spokesman John Kirby in a teleconference with reporters. “If we just sit back and let Putin win, if we let him take Ukraine, where does it stop next?”

The U.S. has provided more than $43 billion worth of military assistance to Ukraine, but much of that money has gone to American defense contractors to backfill weapons and ammunition provided to Ukraine from U.S. military stocks. And while the U.S. is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine, it ranks 12th among donor nations, just after the U.K., in terms of percentage of GDP.

“We have seen throughout this war solid support from the American people, solid support from the Congress in a bipartisan and a bicameral way, for continuing to support Ukraine, and we’re going to stay focused on that,” Kirby said.

MILITARY AIDS FIREFIGHTERS IN HAWAII: With the death toll rising and the destruction from hurricane-fueled wildfires in Hawaii at catastrophic levels, the U.S. military is sending active-duty troops to fight the fires and provide humanitarian relief.

“I have ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with response,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “The Hawaiian National Guard has mobilized Chinook Helicopters to help with fire suppression and search and rescue on the Island of Maui. The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy Third Fleets are supporting response and rescue efforts.”

“The U.S. Army 25th Combat Aviation Brigade deployed two UH-60 Blackhawks and one CH-47 Chinook to Hawaii Island to conduct firefighting operations. Additionally, U.S. Navy Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 sent MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in search and rescue operations,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a press release.

“USINDOPACOM forces stand ready to assist as requested by the State of Hawaii and the Hawaii National Guard,” said the combatant command, which is headquartered on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The fires are on Maui and the “big island” of Hawaii.

HAWAII WILDFIRES: AT LEAST 36 DEAD FROM NATURAL DISASTER

‘NO AGREED-TO FRAMEWORK’: After the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. and Saudi Arabia agreed on the “broad contours” of a path for the Saudis to normalize relations with Israel, the White House knocked down the report as premature, at best.

“I think the reporting has left some people with the impression that discussions are farther along and closer to some sense of certainty than they actually are,” John Kirby said at yesterday’s teleconference briefing. “Bottom line is there is no agreed-to set of negotiations, there is no agreed-to framework to codify the normalization or any of the other security considerations that we and our friends have in the region, but there is a commitment by the administration to keep talking and to keep trying to move things forward.”

The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. was offering Saudi Arabia security guarantees and help with its civilian nuclear program as part of a negotiation that would culminate in its recognition of Israel sometime late next year.

“We still believe that regional integration is a good thing for the region, good thing for us, good thing for the national security interests of our partners there, but there’s still a lot of discussion to happen here, there’s still a lot of conversations that have to occur before we get there,” Kirby said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Biden “somewhere in the US” later this year, while not specifying where.

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Calendar

THURSDAY | AUGUST 10

8 a.m. 2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church, Virginia — Potomac Officers Club “Integrating for Mission Success Forum,” with Nicholas Lanham, deputy program manager for the Advana program in the Defense Department’s Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer; Air Force Lt. Col. Ronnie Synakowski, deputy commander of the 72d Mission Support Group; Keith Hardiman, director of information management for the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force; Schuyler Moore, CTO of the U.S. Central Command; and Bob Ritchie, CTO of SAIC https://potomacofficersclub.com/events

9 a.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance virtual discussion: “Reflections on Six Decades of Service to the Nation,” with Navy Rear Adm. Michael Studeman, commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence; and retired Navy Adm. William Studeman, former deputy director of the CIA and director of the National Security Agency https://www.insaonline.org/detail-pages/event

9 a.m. 700 Monroe St. SW, Huntsville, Alabama — National Defense Industrial Association “Space & Missile Defense Symposium,” day three with Gen. Charles Hamilton, commanding general of the U.S. Army Materiel Command; and Lt. Cmdr. Joe Mroszczyk, commander of the first Multi-Domain Task Force Missile Defense Executive Board https://smdsymposium.org/registration/

10 a.m. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “A Front Row View of the National Security Agency,” with NSA Director Army Gen. Paul Nakasone; NSA General Counsel April Doss; and Tom Bossert, president of Trinity Cyber Inc. https://www.csis.org/events/front-row-view-nsa

10 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual book discussion of: Russia, China and the Revisionist Assault on the Western Liberal International Order, with author Gerlinde Groitl, assistant professor of international politics and trans-Atlantic relations at the University of Regensburg, Germany https://www.hudson.org/events/russia-china-revisionist-assault

10 a.m. — Arab Center virtual discussion: “China’s Growing Role in the Middle East: Regional Geopolitics and U.S. Policy,” with Chas Freeman, former assistant defense secretary for international security affairs; Abdullah Baabood, visiting professor at Waseda University; Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Maria Papageorgiou, associate lecturer at University College London; and Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

12 p.m. — Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments virtual discussion on new report, Extending Deterrence by Detection: The Case for Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, with co-author Thomas Mahnken, CSBA president and CEO; co-author Travis Sharp, CSBA director of defense budget studies; co-author Tim Sadov, CSBA research assistant; Whitney McNamara, CSBA nonresident senior fellow; and Sameer Lalwani, CSBA nonresident senior fellow https://csbaonline.org/about/events/report-release-webinar

2 p.m. — Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center event: “A conversation with Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s newly confirmed Secretary of Foreign Affairs,” with Jason Marczak, senior director, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/a-conversation-with-alicia-barcena

TUESDAY | AUGUST 15

8 a.m. 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with Bob Hale and Ellen Lord, chairman and vice chair Congressional Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform. RSVP: Thom Shanker at [email protected]

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I never talked business with anybody. I knew you would have a lousy question.” President Joe Biden’s response to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy’s question about claims Biden was on speaker phone when his son Hunter was meeting with business associates.

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