Tech Quisling

Dunford to meet with Google for debate on Chinese ties
By Aaron Mehta 

It is safe to say that the Pentagon and Google are very different places. But that gap could harm U.S. national security. 

WASHINGTON — For the second time in a week, the Pentagon’s top uniformed officer has taken a shot at Google, warning that the tech company’s investments in China are doing long-term damage to America’s security.
But Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he also plans to meet with the tech giant to debate about its roles and responsibilities as a commercial enterprise versus how much the firm owes to America as its home nation.
“In my judgment, Google assisting the Chinese military in advancing technologically is not in U.S. national interests, so it’s a debate we have to have,” Dunford said at a Thursday event hosted by the Atlantic Council.
His comments followed up on statements made in a Senate hearing last week, where he said Google was benefiting the Chinese military by its operations in the communist nation. 

Asked to follow up on those conversations Thursday, the chairman expressed the belief that no company can do work in China without it being siphoned off.
“If a company does business in China, they are automatically going to be required to have a cell of the Communist Party in that company,” he said. 

“And that is going to lead to that intellectual property from that company finding its way to the Chinese military. It is a distinction without a difference between the Chinese Communist Party, the government and the Chinese military.”
“Ventures to help develop artificial intelligence in China are going to do two things. They are going to help an authoritarian government to assert control [over] its own population. Again, our country exists for the individual. China exists for the Chinese communist party,” he continued.
“The second thing it’s going to do is it’s going to enable the Chinese military to take advantage of the technology that is developed in the United States. Why is it developed in the United States? Why is Silicon Valley in the United States? Because of our system of government in enabling of individual ideas to bubble up and advance the world, whether it’s medically, education, artificial intelligence, you name it.”

Dunford added that he has plans to meet with Google executives in the near future, likely next week.
“I just think we need to have a debate about that. We ought not to think that it is just about business when we do business in China,” he said. 

“This is about us looking at the second- and third-order effects of our business ventures in China, the Chinese form of government, and the impact it’s going to have on the United States’ ability to maintain a competitive military advantage and all that goes into it.
“I’m happy to have that debate. This is not about me and Google.”
The issue Dunford identifies is indeed wider than Google, with China a prime target for just about every major American industrial concern. 

His comments also come from a situation where members of the tech and defense communities appear to often talk past each other and regard the other with suspicion.
That said, Google is an easy target inside the Pentagon. 

Not only did parts of the company revolt against working on the department’s Project Maven last year, leading to Google’s exit entirely from the program, but the company has opened a major AI center in China — despite statements from Eric Schmidt, then the head of parent company Alphabet, that the U.S. and China are in an AI arms race.
“In the case of Google they were highlighted because they have an artificial intelligence venture in China. I think it is a reasonable assertion, even in an open venue like this, to assert the benefit of that venture for artificial intelligence for China, one of many ventures of our companies that are there, indirectly benefits the Chinese military and creates a challenge for us to [maintain] a competitive advantage,” Dunford said.
It’s not just AI where China’s influence on the commercial sector is butting up against the Pentagon’s interests.
Asked about the potential risks of a Chinese-built 5G network, Dunford called it a “critical national security issue” that needs to be addressed not just in the U.S. but with allied nations.
“Our relationships rely on trust, and that trust, in part, is the assurance that the data that we exchange, the intelligence we share, the information we share can be done in a way where it’s not compromised. And the issue of 5G addresses both potential vulnerabilities in our systems due to how reliant we will be on 5G for the internet of things, our combat systems, but also exchanging information with our allies and partners,” he said.
"So we very much believe that any future capability along the lines of 5G has to be trusted, and we’re concerned that we’re moving in the direction where if we don’t get out in front in that regard we won’t be able to trust 5G and will be at a competitive disadvantage,” the chairman concluded. 

“I think American industry needs to step out and dominate 5G because it will be in our national interest to do so.”

Tech Quisling: Google’s work in China benefits Beijing’s military

• America’s top two defense officials slammed Google’s work with China, saying it has benefited Beijing’s military.
• Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “We watch with great concern when industry partners work in China knowing that there is that benefit.” 
• The latest revelation comes as the U.S. trade battle with China marches on, with intellectual property theft proving to be a major sticking point between the enemies.

By Amanda Macias

Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, give testimony on the Department of Defense budget posture in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2020 and the Future Years Defense Program at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, March 14, 2019.

WASHINGTON — America’s top two defense officials slammed Google’s work with China on Thursday saying it has “indirectly benefited” Beijing’s military.
“We watch with great concern when industry partners work in China knowing that there is that indirect benefit,” Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Dunford said. “The way I describe it to industry partners is, ‘look we’re the good guys and the values that we represent and the system we represent is the one that will allow and has allowed you to thrive,’” he said.
Dunford’s comments come in the wake of the tech giant’s decision not to pursue some of the Pentagon’s lucrative contracts while considering projects in China.
In October, Google said it would no longer compete for the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud computing contract, an award that could be worth $10 billion. Google said that the contract may conflict with its corporate values.

In addition, the company also said it would not renew a Pentagon contract that analyzed aerial drone imagery for the military.
Meanwhile, it was revealed last year that the tech giant was studying the idea of working with the Chinese government on “Project Dragonfly,” a censored search engine that would block certain sites and search terms. 

More recently, after pushback from politicians and activists, Google said it had dropped those plans.
But Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has said the company will continue to invest in China while also considering projects with the U.S. government.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, also speaking before the Senate committee, echoed concerns that China has gamed American innovation.
”$5 trillion of their [China’s] economy is state-owned enterprises. So the technology that has developed in the civil world transfers to the military world, it’s a direct pipeline. Not only is there a transfer, there is systemic theft of U.S. technology that facilitates even faster development of emerging technology,” he said.
“The talent is in this country, we need to use the talent in this country and the talent in this country needs to support our great power competition,” Shanahan added.
The criticism comes as the U.S. trade battle with China marches on, with intellectual property theft proving to be a major sticking point between the world’s two largest economies.
U.S. officials have long complained that intellectual property theft has cost the economy billions of dollars in revenue, thousands of jobs and threatens national security.
“If China successfully captures these emerging industries of the future, America will have no economic future and its national security will be severely compromised,” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said in June.
For the Pentagon, there is no better example of Navarro’s comments than the most expensive U.S. weapons system: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II fighter jet 

On Oct. 26, 2001, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth more than $200 billion to build the next-generation stealth strike fighter.
As America’s next fighter jet came to life, some of its sensitive design and electronics data were compromised in 2009.
Chinese hackers were behind the cyberintrusion since its stealth Shenyang J-31 jet bears a remarkably striking resemblance to the F-35.
And before the J-31 mimicked the F-35, there was the curious case of the J-20 and the F-22.
In another instance of industrial espionage, the prototypes of China’s Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter jet looked suspiciously similar to the sleek design of Lockheed’s F-22 Raptor.
While the U.S.-made Lockheed Martin jets are believed to have better computer software, more sophisticated sensors and sensitive stealth coating, the theft of intellectual property gives adversaries the opportunity to avoid the expense and delays involved with research and development.
Last March, President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum that penalized China for trade practices such as industrial espionage.
The measures impose retaliatory tariffs on about $60 billion in Chinese imports.
On hand for the signing was Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, who oversees the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Hewson said intellectual property is the “lifeblood” of the defense industry and welcomed the action taken by the Trump administration.
“This is a very important moment for our country, in that we are addressing a critical area for the aerospace and defense industry and that is protecting our intellectual property,” she said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he was in no hurry to come to a trade deal with China and gave no indication of when he would meet with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping.
“I’m in no rush. I want the deal to be right ... I am not in a rush whatsoever. It’s got to be the right deal. It’s got to be a good deal for us and if it’s not, we’re not going to make that deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump decided in February that he would not increase tariffs on Chinese goods at the beginning of March.

Sina Delenda Est

China has flown bomber jets in the vicinity of Guam and practiced attacks on the island.

• Chinese military activities are causing the United States to worry about the country as the primary threat 
• Chinese bombers have also flown near Hawaii.

By Stacey Yuen

A Chinese Xi'an H-6M bomber aircraft is displayed at an exhibition in Guangdong, China, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- China has practiced bombing runs targeting the U.S. territory of Guam, one of a host of activities making U.S. forces here consider Beijing the most worrisome potential threat in the Pacific, even as North Korea pursues a nuclear warhead.
Beyond the well-publicized military build up on man-made islands in the South China Sea, China has built up its fleet of fighters to the extent that it operates a daily, aggressive campaign to contest airspace over the East China Sea, South China Sea and beyond, U.S. military officials here in the region said.

China has also taken several other non-military steps that are viewed as attempts to make it much more difficult for the U.S. to operate there and defend allies in the future.
The officials described the escalatory behaviors by China in a briefing they provided to reporters traveling with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.
The officials said despite increased threats by North Korea as it pursues its nuclear weapons program, a conflict with North Korea is still viewed as “a fight we can win,” they said. 

With China, they said they “worry about the way things are going.”
China “is very much the long-term challenge in the region,” said Dunford, who was not part of the briefing. 

“When we look at the capabilities China is developing, we’ve got to make sure we maintain the ability to meet our alliance commitments in the Pacific.”
Over the last year Japan has scrambled 900 sorties to intercept Chinese fighters challenging Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ. 

In 2013 China announced borders for its own ADIZ, borders which overlapped Japan’s zone and included Japan's Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. 

Since then, increased interactions between Japanese and Chinese aircraft ultimately resulted in Japan relocating two fighter squadrons to Naha Air Base on Okinawa to more easily meet the incursions, the officials said.
“We now have, on a daily basis, armed Chinese Flankers and Japanese aircraft” coming in close proximity of each other, the officials said.
Intercepts between the U.S. and China are also increasing, the officials said.
“It’s very common for PRC aircraft to intercept U.S. aircraft,” these days, the officials said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Chinese aircraft are also testing U.S. air defense identification zones, the officials said.
Chinese H-6K “Badger” bombers upgraded with 1,000 mile range air launched cruise missiles are testing U.S. defense zones around Guam, the officials said.
The Badgers run frequent flights to get within range of the U.S. territory, they said.
“The PRC is practicing attacks on Guam,” the officials said.
Those bombers are also flying around Hawaii, they said.
The vast majority of the flights occur without an incident, for example, a report of unsafe flying. 

The officials said they follow U.S. Pacific Command guidance on how to respond in those events, so they do not further escalate.
Military-to-military relationships between the U.S. and China remain open, if guarded, the officials said. 

Both Chinese and U.S. officials meet twice a year at the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement conference, where the incursions are discussed along with other security topics.
The expanded Chinese fighter and bombers runs are just one part of the country’s effort to “win without fighting” to gradually normalize the gains China has made in the South China Sea, the officials said.
There are other pressures. 

For example, the officials said they estimate the People’s Liberation Army Navy has placed as many as 150,000 Chinese commercial fishing vessels under its direction, even though they are not official Chinese navy. 

The Chinese fishing vessels make coordinated attacks on Vietnamese fishermen, the officials said, ramming and sinking boats near the Paracel Islands. 

China took the territory from Vietnam in the 1970s and has militarized some of the islands. 

The area remains a traditional fishing area for the Vietnamese,
Taken together, China’s activities suggest it is preparing to defend expanded boundaries, the U.S. officials worry.
“I think they will be ready to enforce it when they decide to declare the Nine-Dash line as theirs,” one of the officials said, referring to the territorial line China has identified that would notionally put the entire South China Sea under Chinese control if enforced.
If unchallenged, the U.S. officials worry that China could slowly force countries away from what they describe as the “rules based order” -- essentially the standing international treaties and norms -- in the region and make them shift their security alliances to Beijing for their own economic survival.
Dunford said the U.S. would not allow that to happen.
“We view ourselves as a Pacific power,” Dunford said.
“There are some who try to create a narrative that we are not in the Pacific to stay,” he said. 

“Our message is that we are a Pacific power. We intend to stay in the Pacific. Our future economic prosperity is inextricably linked to our security and political relationships in the region.”
U.S. forces in the region are rethinking what a Pacific war would look like.
“If we find ourselves in conflict out there we will be under air attack,” the official said.
One concept they shared is “Agile Combat Employment” -- dispersing the U.S. advanced fighters concentrated at air bases in Japan and scattering them to 10-15 undeveloped and highly expeditionary airstrips on islands in the region. 

The dispersion would require the rapid dissemination of logistics support to keep those aircraft operating at their remote locations. 

The Air Force has already been practicing how to disperse the fuel, most recently in their Arctic Ace exercise, the officials said.
The idea would be that the aircraft would be so dispersed that it would make it difficult for China to prioritize what it would attack.
President Donald Trump will visit the Pacific region later this week, making stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

Dunford said he expected that some of the security and economic concerns generated by the increased incursions and economic pressures by China would likely come up.
“If people want to view that as a focus on China they can. But it’s based on a rules-based international order,” Dunford said. 

“It’s focused on our ability to advance our national interests. We’re not going to compromise in that regard.”

Sina Delenda Est

Top US general: China will be greatest threat to US by 2025
By Ryan Browne

From left: Army Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea; South Korean Chairman Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin; Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Japanese Chief of Defense Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano; and U.S. Pacific Command commander, Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., pose for photograph at the Pentagon, Oct. 14, 2016. The senior military leaders met to discuss trilateral collaboration in order to respond to increasing Chinese threat.

America's top military officer, Gen. Joseph Dunford, told Congress Tuesday China is likely to be the "greatest threat" of any foe to the US within a decade.
"I think China probably poses the greatest threat to our nation by about 2025," Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on his re-appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Dunford was responding to a question from Hawaii Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono, who noted that the general had previously identified Russia, followed by China and North Korea, as representing the greatest military threats to US national security during a 2015 appearance before the same committee.
But on Tuesday Dunford took the opportunity to reshuffle his list of national security concerns, saying that North Korea now "poses the greatest threat today" due to the "sense of urgency" involved as Pyongyang's develops its nuclear and missile programs.
He also said that Russia remained the greatest threat overall due to its military capabilities in the realms of nuclear weapons and electronic warfare as well as Russian military activity in places like Crimea, which it invaded and annexed in 2014, and eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is backing armed separatists.
However, Dunford said that China would become the greatest threat by 2025.
"If I look out to 2025, and I look at the demographics and the economic situation, I think China probably poses the greatest threat to our nation by about 2025," he said.
Dunford also told the committee that "China is focused on limiting our ability to project power and weakening our alliances in the Pacific."

"Chinese leaders seem committed to increases in defense spending for the foreseeable future," the report added, saying "China's military modernization is targeting capabilities with the potential to degrade core US military technological advantages."
The Pentagon's 2017 assessment of China's military capabilities noted that Beijing's "officially disclosed military budget grew at an average of 8.5% per year in inflation adjusted terms from 2007 through 2016."
"We use, largely, Russia and China to benchmark our capabilities," Dunford said Tuesday, warning that in the face of Russian and Chinese military modernization, the US would need to boost the annual defense budget by somewhere between 3% and 7% for the next five years in order "to maintain a competitive advantage over those peer competitors" in the mid 2020s.

US, China have many difficult issues
Dunford visited Beijing in August where he struck a deal with Chinese military forces ensuring better communications between the two world powers.
Speaking at the time, the general said the United States and China "have many difficult issues where we will not necessarily have the same perspectives," and the agreement would reduce the chance of "miscalculation."
In August a US destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, sailed close to one of the artificial islands China claimsin the South China Sea as part of a freedom of navigation exercise.
Beijing said the move was a "flaunting of force."
The US regularly conducts similar Freedom of Navigation exercises in the South China Sea, which China claims as its territory but the US insists are international waters.
In the East China Sea, US officials have accused Chinese jets of carrying out multiple "unsafe" intercepts of American aircraft in recent months.
In one incident, a Chinese J-10 fighter jet came within 300 feet (90 meters) of a US plane forcing it to take "evasive action," US officials told CNN.
Beijing maintains an Air Defense Identification Zone over a large part of the East China Sea, a zone which the US does not consider valid.