Sina Delenda Est

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is requesting expert proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on China’s development of advanced weapons.
By Scout Warrior 

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is now reviewing expert proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on China’s development of advanced weapons.
The Request for Proposals seeks unclassified, open-source assessments of specific Chinese weapons systems and areas of ongoing technological inquiry. Some detailed priority areas include:
1. Maneuverable re-entry vehicles, including hypersonic glide and supersonic combustion ramjet engine-powered vehicles;
2. Directed energy weapons, to include high power radiofrequency weapons, high energy lasers, and particle beam weapons, with effects ranging from satellite jamming to target damage;
3. Electromagnetic railguns;
4. Direct-ascent, co-orbital, and other anti-satellite weapons in addition to counterspace electronic warfare capabilities; and 

5. Unmanned and artificial intelligence-equipped weapons.
The RFP also places a premium on the need for reports which detail the implications of China's advanced weaponry for the United States. 

This includes an examination of potential U.S. countermeasures and areas of needed developmental emphasis, along with assessments of relative competitive advantages in key areas of weapons development.

US-China Military Competition
The project seems unequivocally aimed at helping lawmakers and policy leaders better apprehend the fast-moving trajectory of China's military modernization and weapons development. 

The request for a report comes amid a broader context of US concern about many areas of Chinese progress in developing next-generation weaponry. 

Several examples among many include reports of China's testing of hypersonic weapons, a development which could dramatically change the threat calculus for aircraft carriers and other US surface warships, among other things.
China is known to have conducted several hypersonic weapons tests. 

The US Air Force Chief Scientist, Geoffrey Zacharias, told Scout Warrior that the US is indeed seeking to accelerate its hypersonic weapons development program, at least in part, to exceed or keep pace with Chinese progress. 

Zacharias explained the US approach as consisting of "stair-steps" including a planned progression from hypersonic propulsion to hypersonic weapons, hypersonic drones and ultimately hypersonic recoverable drones or air vehicles; he said the US envisions having hypersonic weapons by the mid 2020s, hypersonic drones by the 2030s -- and recoverable hypersonic drones by the 2040s.
In addition, China's well-documented anti-satellite, or ASAT, weapons tests have inspired international attention and influenced the Pentagon and US Air Force to accelerate strategies for satellite protection such as improving sensor resiliency, cyber hardening command and control and building in redundancy to improve prospects for functionality in the event of attack.
China's drone programs, cyber intrusions and indigenous aircraft carrier construction are also several factors among many likely driving Congressional interest in this kind of report.
China's rapid development of new destroyers, amphibs, stealth fighters and long-range weapons is quickly increasing its ability to threaten the United States and massively expand expeditionary military operations around the globe, according to several reports from teh US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in recent years.

2016 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission
The 2016 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission specifies China's growing provocations and global expeditionary exercises along with its fast-increasing ability to project worldwide military power.
As examples, the report catalogues a number of aggressive Chinese military or maritime militia encounters:
- In May 2016, two PLA Air Force fighters conducted an unsafe intercept of a U.S. EP-3 aircraft, causing the EP-3 to dive away to avoid a collision.
- In 2013, a PLA Navy ship crossed the U.S. guided missile cruiser Cowpens’ bow, causing the ship to alter course to avoid a collision.
- In 2009, the U.S. Navy ship Impeccable was harassed by maritime militia boats in the South China Sea.
- In 2001, a PLA Navy fighter collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
Additional instances of Chinese provocation in recent year include placement of surface-to-air-missiles and fighters in sensitive areas of the South China Sea, along with its announcement of an "Air exclusion zone." 

While the US military flew B-52 bombers through this declared zone in a demonstration of defiance, the move did demonstrate China's growing willingness to be aggressive. 

In addition, Chinese "land reclamation" and territorial claims in the South China Sea prompted US "freedom of navigation exercises" to unambiguously thwart China's claims.
As part of a detailed effort to document China's growing influence as an expeditionary global power, the Congressional report highlights a range of Chinese deployments and worldwide exercises beyond their borders or more immediate regional influence. 

From the report:
- 2012, China deployed its first UN peacekeeping combat forces to the UN Mission in South Sudan to provide security for PLA engineering and medical personnel.
- Indian Ocean far sea deployments: In early 2014, Chinese surface combatants carried out far sea training, during which they transited through the South China Sea, into the eastern Indian Ocean, and then sailed back to China through the Philippine Sea. During the 23-day deployment, the PLA Navy conducted training associated with antisubmarine warfare, air defense, electronic warfare, and expeditionary logistics.
- In addition to ongoing antipiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, China dispatched an intelligence gathering ship to the Indian Ocean in 2012, and has deployed four classes of submarines (both nuclear and conventionally powered) to the Indian Ocean.
The 2016 report, coupled with the commissions detailed chapter on Chinese military modernization in a prior 2014 report, bring a sharpened focus upon the detail of Chinese ship, weapons and aircraft improvement and construction.
At the same time, despite these developments, the report does point out China will need to sustain its current pace of military expansion for years to come in order to truly rival the US military's global reach.
"To support, sustain, and defend long range operations, the PLA must continue to develop or procure large amphibious ships, heavy lift aircraft, and logistical support capabilities, as well as continue to improve command and control capabilities," the report states.

Chinese Navy
While Chinese naval technology may still be substantially behind current U.S. platforms, the equation could change dramatically over the next several decades because the Chinese are reportedly working on a handful of high-tech next-generation ships, weapons and naval systems.
China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to the Congressional reports.
The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress that the U.S. Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy the U.S. military has already started.
Opponents of this strategy point out that the U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers, the Chinese have one and China's one carrier still lacks an aircraft wing capable of operating off of a carrier deck.
However, the Chinese are already beginning construction on several of their own indigenous aircraft carriers. 

China currently has one carrier, the Ukranian-built Liaoning.
Looking to the future, the 2016 report says "future Chinese carriers are likely to be flat deck ships, like U.S. aircraft carriers, that utilize steam or magnetic catapults and would enable the PLA Navy to employ aircraft armed with heavier munitions intended for maritime strike or land attack missions. According to DOD, China could build several aircraft carriers in the next 15 years. 

China may ultimately produce five ships—for a total of six carriers—for the PLA Navy."
The commission also cites other platforms and weapons systems the Chinese are developing, which will likely change the strategic calculus regarding how U.S. carriers and surface ships might need to operate in the region.
These include the LUYANG III, a new class of Chinese destroyer slated to enter the fleet this year. These ships are being engineered with vertically-launched, long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, the commission said. 

The new destroyer will carry an extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, among other weapons, the report says.
As evidence of the impact of these destroyers, the report points out that these new multi-mission destroyers are likely to form the bulk of warship escorts for Chinese carriers -- in a manner similar to how the US Navy protects its carriers with destroyers in "carrier strike groups."
"These 8,000 ton destroyers (the LUYANG III) have phased-array radars and a long-range SAM [surface-to-air missile] system which provides the [navy] with its first credible area air-defense capability," the 2016 report states.
The Chinese are currently testing and developing a new, carrier-based fighter aircraft called the J-15.
Regarding amphibious assault ships, the Chinese are planning to add several more YUZHAO LPDs, amphibs which can carry 800 troops, four helicopters and up to 20 armored vehicles, the report said.
"The YUZHAO can carry up to four air cushion landing craft, four helicopters, armored vehicles, and troops for long-distance deployments, which DOD notes ‘‘provide[s] a greater and more flexible capability for ‘far seas’ operations than the [PLA Navy’s] older landing ships,’ according to the report.
The Chinese also have ambitious future plans for next-generation amphibious assault ships.
"China seeks to construct a class of amphibious assault ships larger than the YUZHAO class that would include a flight deck for conducting helicopter operations. 

China may produce four to six of these Type 081 ships with the capacity to transport 500 troops and configured for helicopter-based vertical assault," the report says. 

Some observers have raised the question as to whether this new class of Chinese amphibs could rival the US Navy's emerging, high-tech America-Class amphibious assault ships.
The Chinese are also working on development of a new Type 055 cruiser equipped with land-attack missiles, lasers and rail-gun weapons, according to the review.
China’s surface fleet is also bolstered by production of at least 60 smaller, fast-moving HOBEI-class guided missile patrol boats and ongoing deliveries of JIANGDAO light frigates armed with naval guns, torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.
The commission also says Chinese modernization plans call for a sharp increase in attack submarines and nuclear-armed submarines or SSBNs. 

Chinese SSBNs are now able to patrol with nuclear-armed JL-2 missiles able to strike targets more than 4,500 nautical miles.
The Chinese are currently working on a new, modernized SSBN platform as well as a long-range missile, the JL-3, the commission says.
While the commission says the exact amount of Chinese military spending is difficult to identify, China’s projected defense spending for 2014 is cited at $131 billion, approximately 12.2 percent greater than 2013. 

This figure is about one sixth of what the U.S. spends annually.
The Chinese defense budget has increased by double digits since 1989, the commission states, resulting in annual defense spending doubling since 2008, according to the report.
Some members of Congress, including the former House Armed Services Committee's Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., advocated for both a larger U.S. Navy and a stronger U.S. posture toward China's behavior in the region.

Chinese Air Force
The U.S. Air Force’s technological air power superiority over China is rapidly diminishing in light of rapid Chinese modernization of fighter jets, missiles, air-to-air weapons, cargo planes and stealth aircraft, according to analysts, Pentagon officials and a Congressional review.
The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress appoint an outside panel of experts to assess the U.S.-Chinese military balance and make recommendations regarding U.S. military plans and budgets, among other things.

Despite being released in 2014, the findings of the report -- if slightly dated -- offer a detailed and insightful window into Chinese Air Force technology, progress and development.
The Commission compiled its report based upon testimony, various reports and analytical assessments along with available open-source information. 

An entire chapter is dedicated to Chinese military modernization.
The review states that the Chines People’s Liberation Army currently has approximately 2,200 operational aircraft, nearly 600 of which are considered modern.
“In the early 1990s, Beijing began a comprehensive modernization program to upgrade the PLA Air Force from a short-range, defensively oriented force with limited capabilities into a modern, multi-role force capable of projecting precision airpower beyond China’s borders, conducting air and missile defense and providing early warning,” the review writes.
Regarding stealth aircraft, the review mentions the recent flights of prototypes of the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter, calling the aircraft more advanced than any other air platform currently deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The Chinese are also testing a smaller stealth fighter variant called the J-31 although its intended use is unclear, according to the report.
In 2014, China displayed the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter at China’s Zuhai Air show, according to various reports. 

However, several analysts have made the point that it is not at all clear if the platform comes close to rivaling the technological capability of the U.S. F-35.
Nevertheless, the U.S. technological advantage in weaponry, air and naval platforms is rapidly decreasing, according to the review.
To illustrate this point, the review cites comments from an analyst who compared U.S.-Chinese fighter jets to one another roughly twenty years ago versus a similar comparison today.
The analyst said that in 1995 a high-tech U.S. F-15, F-16 or F/A-18 would be vastly superior to a Chinese J-6 aircraft. 

However today -- China’s J-10 and J-11 fighter jet aircraft would be roughly equivalent in capability to an upgraded U.S. F-15, the review states.
Alongside their J-10 and J-11 fighters, the Chinese also own Russian-built Su-27s and Su-30s and are on the verge of buying the new Su-35 from Russia, the review states.
“The Su-35 is a versatile, highly capable aircraft that would offer significantly improved range and fuel capacity over China’s current fighters. The aircraft thus would strengthen China’s ability to conduct air superiority missions in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, and South China Sea as well as provide China with the opportunity to reverse engineer the fighter’s component parts, including its advanced radar and engines, for integration into China’s current and future indigenous fighters,” the review writes.
In addition to stealth technology, high-tech fighter aircraft and improved avionics, the Chinese have massively increased their ability with air-to-air missiles over the last 15-years, the review finds.
“All of China’s fighters in 2000, with the potential exception of a few modified Su-27s, were limited to within-visual-range missiles. China over the last 15 years also has acquired a number of sophisticated short and medium-range air-to-air missiles; precision-guided munitions including all-weather, satellite-guided bombs, anti-radiation missiles, and laser-guided bombs; and long-range, advanced air-launched land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles,” the review says.
The review also points to the Y-20 aircraft, a new strategic airlifter now being tested by the Chinese which has three times the cargo-carrying capacity of the U.S. Air Force’s C-130. 

Some of these new planes could be configured into tanker aircraft, allowing the Chinese to massively increase their reach and ability to project air power over longer distances.
At the moment, the Chinese do not have a sizeable or modern fleet of tankers, and many of their current aircraft are not engineered for aerial refueling, a scenario which limits their reach.
“Until the PLA Navy’s first carrier-based aviation wing becomes operational, China must use air refueling tankers to enable air operations at these distances from China. However, China’s current fleet of air refueling aircraft, which consists of only about 12 1950s-era H–6U tankers, is too small to support sustained, large-scale, long-distance air combat,” the review states.
The review also cites Russian media reports claiming that Russia has approved the sale of its new, next-generation S-400 surface-to-air-missile to China.
“Such a sale has been under negotiation since at least 2012. The S-400 would more than double the range of China’s air defenses from approximately 125 to 250 miles—enough to cover all of Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands, and parts of the South China Sea,” the review says.
The review also catalogues information related to China’s nuclear arsenal and long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles such as the existing DF-31 and DF-31A along with the now-in-development DF-41.
The Chinese are believed to already have a number of road-mobile ICBMs able to carry nuclear weapons. 

The DF-41 is reported to have as many as 10 re-entry vehicles, analysts have said.

With Friends Like These

U.S. rebukes Canada over Chinese takeover of Norsat
By Robert Fife And Steven Chase

The Trudeau government’s decision to greenlight a Chinese takeover of a Canadian high-tech firm that sells satellite-communication systems to the American military jeopardizes U.S. national security, a congressional commission warned Monday.

The Trudeau government’s decision to greenlight a Chinese takeover of a Canadian high-tech firm that sells satellite-communication systems to the American military jeopardizes U.S. national security, a congressional commission warned Monday and urged the Pentagon to “immediately review” its dealings with Vancouver-based Norsat International.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission told The Globe and Mail that the Liberals are willing to sacrifice national-security interests of its most important ally in exchange for obtaining a bilateral free-trade deal with China.
“Canada’s approval of the sale of Norsat to a Chinese entity raises significant national-security concerns for the United States as the company is a supplier to our military,” Commissioner Michael Wessel said. 

“Canada may be willing to jeopardize its own security interests to gain favour with China, but it shouldn’t put the risks of a close ally in the process.”
Ottawa approved the takeover of Norsat by Hytera Communications of Shenzhen, China, in early June. 

The government conducted a routine security analysis but did not proceed with a full-fledged national-security review to determine the impact on the transfer of proprietary technology outside Canada.
“The U.S. military and other domestic clients of Norsat should immediately review their purchases as well as the exposure they have to existing products from the company they use to determine what security risks might arise,” said Mr. Wessel, a Democrat who has sat on the commission since 2001.
Norsat’s customers include the U.S. Department of Defence, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, aircraft manufacturer Boeing, NATO, Ireland’s Department of Defence, the Taiwanese army and major media companies such as CBS News and Reuters. 

Norsat says its technology is also used by NAV Canada, operator of the country’s civil air-navigation service.
The 12-member U.S. commission monitors, investigates and submits an annual report to Congress on national-security implications of bilateral trade between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
Mr. Wessel said the commission will advise Congress to examine Ottawa’s decision to approve the Hytera-Norstar deal as it begins a statutory review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reports to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

CFIUS is an interagency committee that reviews national-security concerns of foreign investments in U.S. companies.
“This transaction and Canada’s actions must be taken into account,” Mr. Wessel said.
Two former directors of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Richard Fadden and Ward Elcock, have told The Globe that they would have recommended that the Hytera-Norsat transaction be subject to an in-depth national-security review to determine if it was injurious to Canada and its allies.
David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, has called the Hytera takeover of Norsat “worrying,” and questioned why the government is spending billions of dollars on new military hardware if “you’re not doing the basics to counter other threats to national security.”
The Norsat sale to China has temporarily been put on hold after a U.S. hedge fund made an unsolicited bid on Monday.
Privet Fund Management of Atlanta offered $11.50 (U.S.) a share. 

Norsat’s independent board of directors has asked Hytera to match the bid or the company will accept the Privet offer and pay a termination fee of $2.5-million to Hytera.
If Privet buys Norsat, the takeover will be subject to a preliminary security screening that all Canadian companies being sold to foreign interests must undergo. 

Given that the potential buyer is an American firm, it is unlikely that federal officials would recommend a more in-depth national-security review.
However, a U.S. business source expects Hytera will outbid Privet, suggesting the firm – 52-per-cent owned by Chinese billionaire Chen Qingzhou – will get state financing to gain control of the Canadian technology firm.
Ottawa’s decision to consent to Hytera’s takeover without a national-security review has been roundly criticized by Conservative and NDP MPs, who expressed concern about handing over sensitive satellite technology to China.
“Canada’s defence policy cannot include selling national-security secrets to appease communist dictatorships even if they happen to have secured the admiration of our Prime Minister,” Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer told the Commons on Monday. 

“This deal requires a formal national-security review”
Justin Trudeau responded that the government “followed the advice given to us by our national-security agencies.” 

He told MPs all foreign takeovers are subjected to a national-security review when, in fact, they are only screened for their potential to injure the country’s security.
A formal national-security review is an extensive probe that examines the potential impact on Canada’s defence capabilities and economic interests and investigates the transfer of proprietary technology outside Canada.
A key foreign-policy cornerstone of the Trudeau government is closer relations with China, including a potential bilateral free-trade deal and an extradition treaty.
Beijing has made clear that national-security reviews, which it regards as protectionism, will be on the negotiating table. 

The Liberals are listening to the Chinese and have adopted a less risk-averse approach to capital from China.
In February, Ottawa approved the sale of one of British Columbia’s biggest retirement-home chains to a Beijing-based insurance titan with a murky ownership structure in a deal that gave China a foothold in Canada’s health-care sector.
In March, the government approved a Chinese takeover of a Montreal high-tech firm, ITF Technologies – the very same transaction that had previously been blocked by the former Conservative government after it became convinced the deal would undermine a technological edge Western militaries have over China.
Hytera drew international headlines in March when telecom-equipment giant Motorola filed a high-profile lawsuit against it, accusing the Chinese firm of large-scale theft of its proprietary technology.
When Hytera made a bid for Sepura, a mobile digital radio equipment maker in Cambridge earlier this year, Britain conducted a national-security review and imposed strict stipulations.
In Ottawa, the Norsat deal has dominated Question Period. 

Last week, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains at first talked up the robustness of the preliminary screening process and then later claimed a full-scale review had taken place. 

On Monday, he placed the onus on the Norsat decision on CSIS and military intelligence.
“Did Canada’s national-security agencies examine this deal? Yes, they did. Did the government follow the security agencies’ recommendation? Yes, we did. We have done our due diligence,” he said.
The Conservatives and NDP asked the Commons Speaker last week to rule that Bains was not telling the truth when he said a national-security review had taken place. 

They accused Bains of conflating the initial screening process and a formal review to confuse Canadians.
Bains’s own department told The Globe last week that it had advised Norsat that, after a security screening “no order for review would be made.” 

A department spokesman explained, “this was because, following the extended screening process, there are no outstanding national-security concerns.” 

Norsat published the same information on June 2 in a news release.

Congressional Request For Proposal Solicits Expert Report on Chinese Weapons

By KRIS OSBORN

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is requesting expert proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on China’s development of advanced weapons.
The Request for Proposals seeks unclassified, open-source assessments of specific Chinese weapons systems and areas of ongoing technological inquiry.
Some detailed priority areas include:
1. Maneuverable re-entry vehicles, including hypersonic glide and supersonic combustion ramjet engine-powered vehicles;
2. Directed energy weapons, to include high power radiofrequency weapons, high energy lasers, and particle beam weapons, with effects ranging from satellite jamming to target damage;
3. Electromagnetic railguns;
4. Direct-ascent, co-orbital, and other anti-satellite weapons in addition to counterspace electronic warfare capabilities; and
5. Unmanned and artificial intelligence-equipped weapons.
The RFP also places a premium on the need for reports which detail the implications of China's advanced weaponry for the United States.
This includes an examination of potential U.S. countermeasures and areas of needed developmental emphasis, along with assessments of relative competitive advantages in key areas of weapons development.

Context: US-China Military Competition
The project seems unequivocally aimed at helping lawmakers and policy leaders better apprehend the fast-moving trajectory of China's military modernization and weapons development.
The request for a report comes amid a broader context of US concern about many areas of Chinese progress in developing next-generation weaponry.
Several examples among many include reports of China's testing of hypersonic weapons, a development which could dramatically change the threat calculus for aircraft carriers and other US surface warships, among other things.
China is known to have conducted several hypersonic weapons tests.
The US Air Force Chief Scientist, Geoffrey Zacharias, told Scout Warrior that the US is indeed seeking to accelerate its hypersonic weapons development program, at least in part, to exceed or keep pace with Chinese progress.
Zacharias explained the US approach as consisting of "stair-steps" including a planned progression from hypersonic propulsion to hypersonic weapons, hypersonic drones and ultimately hypersonic recoverable drones or air vehicles; he said the US envisions having hypersonic weapons by the mid 2020s, hypersonic drones by the 2030s -- and recoverable hypersonic drones by the 2040s.
In addition, China's well-documented anti-satellite, or ASAT, weapons tests have inspired international attention and influenced the Pentagon and US Air Force to accelerate strategies for satellite protection such as improving sensor resiliency, cyber hardening command and control and building in redundancy to improve prospects for functionality in the event of attack.
China's drone programs, cyber intrusions and indigenous aircraft carrier construction are also several factors among many likely driving Congressional interest in this kind of report.
China's rapid development of new destroyers, amphibs, stealth fighters and long-range weapons is quickly increasing its ability to threaten the United States and massively expand expeditionary military operations around the globe, according to several reports from teh US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in recent years.

2016 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission
The 2016 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission specifies China's growing provocations and global expeditionary exercises along with its fast-increasing ability to project worldwide military power.
As examples, the report catalogues a number of aggressive Chinese military or maritime militia encounters:
- In May 2016, two PLA Air Force fighters conducted an unsafe intercept of a U.S. EP-3 aircraft, causing the EP-3 to dive away to avoid a collision.
- In 2013, a PLA Navy ship crossed the U.S. guided missile cruiser Cowpens’ bow, causing the ship to alter course to avoid a collision.
- In 2009, the U.S. Navy ship Impeccable was harassed by maritime militia boats in the South China Sea.
- In 2001, a PLA Navy fighter collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
Additional instances of Chinese provocation in recent year include placement of surface-to-air-missiles and fighters in sensitive areas of the South China Sea, along with its announcement of an "Air exclusion zone."
 While the US military flew B-52 bombers through this declared zone in a demonstration of defiance, the move did demonstrate China's growing willingness to be aggressive.
In addition, Chinese "land reclamation" and territorial claims in the South China Sea prompted US "freedom of navigation exercises" to unambiguously thwart China's claims.

As part of a detailed effort to document China's growing influence as an expeditionary global power, the Congressional report highlights a range of Chinese deployments and worldwide exercises beyond their borders or more immediate regional influence.
From the report:
- 2012, China deployed its first UN peacekeeping combat forces to the UN Mission in South Sudan to provide security for PLA engineering and medical personnel.
- Indian Ocean far sea deployments: In early 2014, Chinese surface combatants carried out far sea training, during which they transited through the South China Sea, into the eastern Indian Ocean, and then sailed back to China through the Philippine Sea. During the 23-day deployment, the PLA Navy conducted training associated with antisubmarine warfare, air defense, electronic warfare, and expeditionary logistics.
- In addition to ongoing antipiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, China dispatched an intelligence gathering ship to the Indian Ocean in 2012, and has deployed four classes of submarines (both nuclear and conventionally powered) to the Indian Ocean.
The 2016 report, coupled with the commissions detailed chapter on Chinese military modernization in a prior 2014 report, bring a sharpened focus upon the detail of Chinese ship, weapons and aircraft improvement and construction.
At the same time, despite these developments, the report does point out the China will need to sustain its current pace of military expansion for years to come in order to truly rival the US military's global reach.
"To support, sustain, and defend long range operations, the PLA must continue to develop or procure large amphibious ships, heavy lift aircraft, and logistical support capabilities, as well as continue to improve command and control capabilities," the report states.

Chinese Navy
While Chinese naval technology may still be substantially behind current U.S. platforms, the equation could change dramatically over the next several decades because the Chinese are reportedly working on a handful of high-tech next-generation ships, weapons and naval systems.
China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to the Congressional reports.
The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress that the U.S. Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy the U.S. military has already started.
Opponents of this strategy point out that the U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers, the Chinese have one and China's one carrier still lacks an aircraft wing capable of operating off of a carrier deck.
However, the Chinese are already beginning construction on several of their own indigenous aircraft carriers. China currently has one carrier, the Ukranian-built Liaoning.
Looking to the future, the 2016 report says "future Chinese carriers are likely to be flat deck ships, like U.S. aircraft carriers, that utilize steam or magnetic catapults and would enable the PLA Navy to employ aircraft armed with heavier munitions intended for maritime strike or land attack missions. According to DOD, China could build several aircraft carriers in the next 15 years. China may ultimately produce five ships—for a total of six carriers—for the PLA Navy."
The commission also cites other platforms and weapons systems the Chinese are developing, which will likely change the strategic calculus regarding how U.S. carriers and surface ships might need to operate in the region.
These include the LUYANG III, a new class of Chinese destroyer slated to enter the fleet this year. These ships are being engineered with vertically-launched, long-range anti-ship cruise missiles, the commission said.
The new destroyer will carry an extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, among other weapons, the report says.
As evidence of the impact of these destroyers, the report points out that these new multi-mission destroyers are likely to form the bulk of warship escorts for Chinese carriers -- in a manner similar to how the US Navy protects its carriers with destroyers in "carrier strike groups."
"These 8,000 ton destroyers (the LUYANG III) have phased-array radars and a long-range SAM [surface-to-air missile] system which provides the [navy] with its first credible area air-defense capability," the 2016 report states.
The Chinese are currently testing and developing a new, carrier-based fighter aircraft called the J-15.
Regarding amphibious assault ships, the Chinese are planning to add several more YUZHAO LPDs, amphibs which can carry 800 troops, four helicopters and up to 20 armored vehicles, the report said.
"The YUZHAO can carry up to four air cushion landing craft, four helicopters, armored vehicles, and troops for long-distance deployments, which DOD notes ‘‘provide[s] a . . . greater and more flexible capability for ‘far seas’ operations than the [PLA Navy’s] older landing ships.,’ according to the report.

The Chinese also have ambitious future plans for next-generation amphibious assault ships.
"China seeks to construct a class of amphibious assault ships larger than the YUZHAO class that would include a flight deck for conducting helicopter operations. China may produce four to six of these Type 081 ships with the capacity to transport 500 troops and configured for helicopter-based vertical assault," the report says.
Some observers have raised the question as to whether this new class of Chinese amphibs could rival the US Navy's emerging, high-tech America-Class amphibious assault ships.
The Chinese are also working on development of a new Type 055 cruiser equipped with land-attack missiles, lasers and rail-gun weapons, according to the review.
China’s surface fleet is also bolstered by production of at least 60 smaller, fast-moving HOUBEI-glass guided missile patrol boats and ongoing deliveries of JIANGDAO light frigates armed with naval guns, torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.
The commission also says Chinese modernization plans call for a sharp increase in attack submarines and nuclear-armed submarines or SSBNs.
Chinese SSBNs are now able to patrol with nuclear-armed JL-2 missiles able to strike targets more than 4,500 nautical miles.
The Chinese are currently working on a new, modernized SSBN platform as well as a long-range missile, the JL-3, the commission says.
While the commission says the exact amount of Chinese military spending is difficult to identify, China’s projected defense spending for 2014 is cited at $131 billion, approximately 12.2 percent greater than 2013.
This figure is about one sixth of what the U.S. spends annually.
The Chinese defense budget has increased by double digits since 1989, the commission states, resulting in annual defense spending doubling since 2008, according to the report.
Some members of Congress, including the former House Armed Services Committee's Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., advocated for both a larger U.S. Navy and a stronger U.S. posture toward China's behavior in the region.

Chinese Air Force
The U.S. Air Force’s technological air power superiority over China is rapidly diminishing in light of rapid Chinese modernization of fighter jets, missiles, air-to-air weapons, cargo planes and stealth aircraft, according to analysts, Pentagon officials and a Congressional review.
The 2014 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that Congress appoint an outside panel of experts to assess the U.S.-Chinese military balance and make recommendations regarding U.S. military plans and budgets, among other things.Despite being released in 2014, the findings of the report -- if slightly dated -- offer a detailed and insightful window into Chinese Air Force technology, progress and development.
The Commission compiled its report based upon testimony, various reports and analytical assessments along with available open-source information.
An entire chapter is dedicated to Chinese military modernization.
The review states that the Chines People’s Liberation Army currently has approximately 2,200 operational aircraft, nearly 600 of which are considered modern.
“In the early 1990s, Beijing began a comprehensive modernization program to upgrade the PLA Air Force from a short-range, defensively oriented force with limited capabilities into a modern, multi-role force capable of projecting precision airpower beyond China’s borders, conducting air and missile defense and providing early warning,” the review writes.
Regarding stealth aircraft, the review mentions the recent flights of prototypes of the Chinese J-20 stealth fighter, calling the aircraft more advanced than any other air platform currently deployed in the Asia-Pacific region.
 The Chinese are also testing a smaller stealth fighter variant called the J-31 although its intended use is unclear, according to the report.
In 2014, China displayed the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter at China’s Zhuhai Air show, according to various reports.
However, several analysts have made the point that it is not at all clear if the platform comes close to rivaling the technological capability of the U.S. F-35.
Nevertheless, the U.S. technological advantage in weaponry, air and naval platforms is rapidly decreasing, according to the review.
To illustrate this point, the review cites comments from an analyst who compared U.S.-Chinese fighter jets to one another roughly twenty years ago versus a similar comparison today.

The analyst said that in 1995 a high-tech U.S. F-15, F-16 or F/A-18 would be vastly superior to a Chinese J-6 aircraft.
However today -- China’s J-10 and J-11 fighter jet aircraft would be roughly equivalent in capability to an upgraded U.S. F-15, the review states.
Alongside their J-10 and J-11 fighters, the Chinese also own Russian-built Su-27s and Su-30s and are on the verge of buying the new Su-35 from Russia, the review states.
“The Su-35 is a versatile, highly capable aircraft that would offer significantly improved range and fuel capacity over China’s current fighters. The aircraft thus would strengthen China’s ability to conduct air superiority missions in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, and South China Sea as well as provide China with the opportunity to reverse engineer the fighter’s component parts, including its advanced radar and engines, for integration into China’s current and future indigenous fighters,” the review writes.
In addition to stealth technology, high-tech fighter aircraft and improved avionics, the Chinese have massively increased their ability with air-to-air missiles over the last 15-years, the review finds.
“All of China’s fighters in 2000, with the potential exception of a few modified Su-27s, were limited to within-visual-range missiles. China over the last 15 years also has acquired a number of sophisticated short and medium-range air-to-air missiles; precision-guided munitions including all-weather, satellite-guided bombs, anti-radiation missiles, and laser-guided bombs; and long-range, advanced air-launched land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles,” the review says.

The review also points to the Y-20 aircraft, a new strategic airlifter now being tested by the Chinese which has three times the cargo-carrying capacity of the U.S. Air Force’s C-130.
Some of these new planes could be configured into tanker aircraft, allowing the Chinese to massively increase their reach and ability to project air power over longer distances.
At the moment, the Chinese do not have a sizeable or modern fleet of tankers, and many of their current aircraft are not engineered for aerial refueling, a scenario which limits their reach.
“Until the PLA Navy’s first carrier-based aviation wing becomes operational, China must use air refueling tankers to enable air operations at these distances from China. However, China’s current fleet of air refueling aircraft, which consists of only about 12 1950s-era H–6U tankers, is too small to support sustained, large-scale, long-distance air combat,” the review states.
The review also cites Russian media reports claiming that Russia has approved the sale of its new, next-generation S-400 surface-to-air-missile to China.
“Such a sale has been under negotiation since at least 2012. The S–400 would more than double the range of China’s air defenses from approximately 125 to 250 miles—enough to cover all of Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands, and parts of the South China Sea,” the review says.
The review also catalogues information related to China’s nuclear arsenal and long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles such as the existing DF-31 and DF-31A along with the now-in-development DF-41.
The Chinese are believed to already have a number of road-mobile ICBMs able to carry nuclear weapons.
The DF-41 is reported to have as many as 10 re-entry vehicles, analysts have said.

Massive Chinese Fifth Column

The Gulag Aperture: Hollywood Becomes Handmaiden To China's Communist Party

By Capital Flows

Wang Jianlin arrives before the company’s IPO at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 23, 2014.

On New Year’s Day, China Central Television (CCTV) unveiled its newest “soft power” entertainment media venture, whose purpose is to extend China’s global media influence. 

Xi Jinping said that the overriding directive of this new collection of television stations and news agencies will be to “follow the party line and promote ‘positive propaganda as the main theme.’”
The CCTV announcement compounds the growing risk that increased Chinese investment will entice Hollywood into volunteering itself as a propaganda division of the Communist Party of China (CPC). 

And if these trends continue, the Western world’s outlet for Chinese dissenters will be closed.
China’s film industry has in recent years grown approximately 34% annually and generated $6.8 billion in 2015. 

While many applaud the very modest political reforms that sometimes complement China’s market liberalization, one should be wary of the country’s iron grip on its entertainment industry.

China’s industry players are inextricably bound to the CPC, as evidenced by the ascent of Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man. 

Jianlin’s successes are a product of quid pro quo arrangements between himself and the CPC’s top officials. 

Further, Jianlin is a delegate to the CPC congress and was a high-level advisor in China’s faux legislature from 2008 to 2013. 

Today, CPC delegate Jianlin can count several American awards shows, including the Golden Globes, the Billboard and American Music Awards, and even AMC Theaters as part of his recently accrued collection.
One may argue that the influence of China’s propaganda machine is overstated. 

After all, Russia has been doing the same thing for years through its RT media network. Economically though, Russia is little more than “Upper Volta with missiles.” 

The Russian Bear simply can’t wield a cudgel or dangle a financial carrot the way the Red Dragon can. 

If Putin threatened to remove Russian funding from Western media, it would be like threatening to remove a bucket of water from the ocean.
Jianlin, on the other hand, has made clear exactly what would happen if President Trump followed up on the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission’s recommendation to ban China’s state-owned companies from buying American ones: “Tell Mr. Trump that I have $10 billion of investments in the United States and more than 20,000 employees there who wouldn’t have anything to eat should things be handled poorly.”
Jianlin demands American compliance with Chinese propaganda prerogatives, all while U.S. film investments are barred from the Chinese market. 

It’s no wonder the Justice Department and Congress have begun to look askance at this exclusively CPC-friendly arrangement.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued a report in October 2015 detailing the consequences of China’s far-reaching propaganda efforts. 

The Commission noted that the chilling influence of Chinese media propagandists is already felt, that it is a “truism” that Hollywood won’t make a film “that the Chinese would reject for social or political reasons.”
The Commission elaborated by explaining that “Hollywood confronts broad consequences when it does not appease Chinese regulators: Captain Phillips found itself $9 million short of its anticipated revenue after finding itself unable to distribute in China [due to censorship].”
Seeds have now been sewn for an American entertainment industry financially beholden to Chinese investors whose purpose and direction begins and ends with the CPC.
The entwining of Hollywood’s and the CPC’s dual fates, and so Hollywood’s complicity in pitching communist propaganda, will persist so long as China continues its aggressive courtship. 

An announced production and distribution partnership between China Film Co. and Paramount Pictures, as well as the $100 million establishment of a U.S.-China cooperative film fund by China Film Co., proves as much.
Is it even possible for the mission of Chinese film and television projects to diverge from the mission of the CPC? 

The evidence isn’t heartening.
China Film Co. is state-owned, meaning that the creative direction of Chinese filmmakers following, say, a $610 million share flotation, will be influenced by the CPC, as will the aforementioned partnership with Paramount. 

Who would believe that this influence doesn’t spill over into Hollywood, when it’s been said that La Peikang, the head of China Film, is the “man to whom Hollywood now goes [to], cap in hand”? Regarding television, the head of CCTV is also the television industry’s chief regulator.
Private companies should be wary of playing devil’s handmaiden to China’s communist propagandists. 

American social media has already proved itself willing to help China’s state apparatus surveil Chinese citizens. 

If the American film and television industry joined in this promiscuous courting of CPC largesse, the net effect might be too great to overcome. 

The CPC’s agitprop would echo across continents.

Stop Technology Ripoffs By China

Congress should make CFIUS review a requirement prior to the sale of any U.S. company to a Chinese-controlled entity — not just to SOEs.

By Anders Corr

On November 16, a U.S. Government advisory body, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, recommended that “Congress amend the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States [CFIUS] to bar Chinese state owned enterprises from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies.” .”

But Congress should go one step further than just banning Chinese SOEs from buying U.S. companies. 

Congress should reverse prior sales of U.S. technology firms to China, especially those in critical industries like aviation and semiconductors. 

It is because of Chinese acquisition of U.S. technology on the cheap that China can now out-compete U.S. manufacturing. 

This is not a matter of protectionism, but a matter of protecting U.S. democracy and workers from China’s autocratic government.
China’s authoritarian economy benefits because Chinese-owned U.S. companies can innovate and design new technologies in U.S. labs, and with U.S. scientists. 

These new technologies never undergo CFIUS review before getting transferred to China. 

Congress should mandate that CFIUS review, and have the authority to stop, joint development programs between U.S. and Chinese technology companies.
According to the commission, “Overall, the data do not demonstrate that CFIUS has been a significant obstacle for Chinese investment in the United States. 

In 2014, the latest year for which data are available, China led foreign countries in CFIUS reviews with 24 reviewed transactions out of more than 100 total Chinese acquisition deals.” 

As noted by the commission, CFIUS fails to review most Chinese acquisitions. 

Many technology companies, especially little-known startups, can be legally acquired by China without CFIUS ever knowing. 

The startups may not even be aware of CFIUS. 

Congress should make CFIUS review a requirement prior to the sale of any U.S. company to a Chinese-controlled entity — not just to SOEs.
Stopping the loss of U.S. technology to China is about protecting the economy, but also about protecting U.S. national security. 

“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] continues to use SOEs [state-owned enterprises] as the primary economic tool for advancing and achieving its national security objectives,” according to the commission’s report. 

“Consequently, there is an inherently high risk that whenever an SOE acquires or gains effective control of a U.S. company, it will use the technology, intelligence, and market power it gains in the service of the Chinese state to the detriment of U.S. national security.”
Congress, which created CFIUS in 2000, typically takes a harsh view of Chinese acquisitions of U.S. technology companies. 

But recent presidential administrations respond with greater alacrity to big business lobbies like Boeing and Apple that stand to make over a trillion dollars in revenue in China over the next 20 years. 

U.S. voters, therefore, cannot trust Boeing, Apple, and their lobbyists to influence U.S. national security decisions. 

Voters should take back their government from these special interests and their Chinese conflicts of interest.
The U.S. Treasury Department chairs the CFIUS review process. 

Timothy Geithner was Secretary of the Treasury at the time that CFIUS reviewed and ultimately approved the sale of of one aviation company in 2011, Cirrus Industries of Minnesota, to the biggest Chinese state-owned aerospace-defense company, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Cirrus has since gained access to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) officials, from whom they are seeking joint research and development, that is, technology transfers. 

ORNL is funded by U.S. taxpayer money, not to help Chinese defense companies, but to develop our most sophisticated materials science for U.S. military and commercial use.
Geithner joined the private equity firm Warburg Pincus after he left government service in 2013. 

There, he led the 2014 acquisition of a $680 million share of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, Huarong Bank. 

China had it in their power to handsomely reward Mr. Geithner in the 2014 transaction. 

That fact is doubtless not lost on current high government officials in Washington who hope to cash in with Chinese clients after they leave government service.

Appointments of former U.S. Secretary-level individuals to boards of directors or upper-management of U.S. companies doing business in China help China’s influence in Washington. 

It is in U.S. voter interests, therefore, to reform this and other possible paths of monetary influence on U.S. politics, and with it, end the chance of Chinese influence in the beltway. 

Campaign finance reform is needed, not just to keep corporate influence out of critical domestic issues like tax and social spending reform, but to keep Chinese and other international competitor influence out of U.S. national security decisions. 

We also need to pass stronger conflict of interest laws against high government officials taking lucrative post-government positions that profit from Chinese clients. 

The same should apply to Russian clients.
The November 16 recommendations of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission make headway against the threat of losing yet more technology to China. 

CFIUS has stopped some deals, which is to their credit. 

But the commission and CFIUS don’t go nearly far enough. 

They will need public mobilization to get the job done properly.

U.S. Should Get Tougher on China’s Deal Making

By EDWARD WONG

The Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai in September. The panel’s report this year took a critical look at the free-trade relationship between the United States and China — for example, implying that the two countries are not competing on a level playing field. 

Congress should exercise greater scrutiny over trade and investment practices between the United States and China in order to prevent China from taking advantage of the economic relationship, a congressional commission said in a report released on Wednesday.
In its long list of recommendations, the commission advised Congress to authorize a government panel that reviews foreign takeover deals to bar Chinese state-owned companies from acquiring or gaining “effective control” of American companies. 

It also said Congress should ask a government watchdog agency to write a report on whether large-scale outsourcing of manufacturing to China “is leading to the hollowing out of the defense industrial base.”
The commission also suggested ways in which Congress could better bring antidumping cases against China.
Each year, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission releases a report to Congress with recommendations based on months of research. 

The commission aims to make suggestions after examining trade, investment and national security issues between the two nations. 

Its recommendations are not binding.
The report this year took a critical look at the free-trade relationship between the United States and China — for example, implying that the countries are not competing on a level playing field. 

It follows a populist airing of grievances over the downsides of free trade and a globalized economy in Western nations this year. 

That helped lead to the election last week of Donald J. Trump as the next United States president and to the vote by Britons in June to leave the European Union.
China, in its recent public statements, has emphasized the tight economic ties between the two major trading partners and said the countries would benefit more from working together.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump said he would bring manufacturing jobs back to Middle America and consider imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports, as well as labeling China a currency manipulator. 

In September, after prodding from some lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, said that it would examine whether reviews of foreign purchases should include more types of foreign investments and be broadened to define more industries as important to the nation’s economy.
The report released on Wednesday said Congress should create an office in the International Trade Administration to identify and bring antidumping and countervailing duty cases. 

Countervailing duties are imposed on goods to offset the fact that the goods may have been made with the help of subsidies.
Besides trade and investment, the report covers topics like security relations, China’s global footprint and the United States’ rebalancing to Asia.
In one section, the authors criticize meager American government efforts to block intelligence collection by China. 

The Obama administration has expressed concern over what it sees as state-sponsored hacking from China in recent years.
“The U.S. government response to the threat from Chinese intelligence collection has suffered from the lack of an integrated, coordinated effort within the U.S. intelligence community,” the report said.
“The U.S. government’s efforts to counter Chinese intelligence collection operations have manifested largely as a series of espionage prosecutions rather than a strategic, whole-of-government response,” it added. 

“The Obama administration has taken steps to improve cybersecurity among U.S. government agencies and defense contractors, but these measures could mitigate, not eliminate, the significant cyber espionage threats to these organizations.”

U.S. panel urges ban on China state firms buying U.S. companies

By David Lawder and Denny Thomas | WASHINGTON/HONG KONG

U.S. lawmakers should take action to ban China's state-owned firms from acquiring U.S. companies, a congressional panel charged with monitoring security and trade links between Washington and Beijing said on Wednesday.
In its annual report to Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the Chinese Communist Party has used state-backed enterprises as the primary economic tool to advance and achieve its national security objectives.
The report recommended Congress prohibit U.S. acquisitions by such entities by changing the mandate of CFIUS, the U.S. government body that conducts security reviews of proposed acquisitions by foreign firms.
"The Commission recommends Congress amend the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to bar Chinese state-owned enterprises from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of U.S. companies," the report said.
CFIUS, led by the U.S. Treasury and with representatives from eight other agencies, including the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security, now has veto power over acquisitions from foreign private and state-controlled firms if it finds that a deal would threaten U.S. national security or critical infrastructure.
If enacted, the panel's recommendation would essentially create a blanket ban on U.S. purchases by Chinese state-owned enterprises.
The report "has again revealed the commission's stereotypes and prejudices," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing.
"We ask that Chinese companies investing abroad abide by local laws and regulations, and we hope that relevant countries will create a level playing field," he told a daily news briefing.

EXTRA WEIGHT
The panel's report is purely advisory, but could carry extra weight this year because they come as President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is formulating its trade and foreign policy agenda and vetting candidates for key economic and security positions.
Congress also could be more receptive, after U.S. voter sentiment against job losses to China and Mexico helped Republicans retain control of both the House and the Senate in last week's election.
Trump strongly criticized China throughout the U.S. election campaign, grabbing headlines with his pledges to slap 45 percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.
"Chinese state owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state," Dennis Shea, chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told a news conference.
"We don't want the U.S. government purchasing companies in the United States, why would we want the Chinese Communist government purchasing companies in the United States?"
The recommendation to change laws governing CFIUS was one of 20 proposals the panel made to Congress. 

On the military side, it called for a government investigation into how far outsourcing to China has weakened the U.S. defense industry.
The 16-year-old panel also said Congress should pass legislation that would require its pre-approval of any move by the U.S. Commerce Department to declare China a "market economy" and limit anti-dumping tariffs against the country.
The United States and U.S. businesses attracted a record $64.5 billion worth of deals involving buyers from mainland China this year, more than any other country targeted by Chinese buyers, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The push into the United States is part of a global overseas buying spree by Chinese companies that this year has seen a record $200 billion worth of deals, nearly double last year's tally.
CFIUS has shown a higher degree of activism against Chinese buyers this year, catching some by surprise. 

Prominent deals that fell victim to CFIUS include Tsinghua Holdings' $3.8 billion investment in Western Digital.
Overall, data do not demonstrate CFIUS has been a significant obstacle for Chinese investment in the United States. 

In 2014, the latest year for which data is available, China topped the list of foreign countries in CFIUS review with 24 deals reviewed out of more than 100 scrutinized by CFIUS.
Although the number of Chinese transactions reviewed rose in absolute terms, it fell as a share of overall Chinese acquisitions, the report noted, and the vast majority of deals reviewed by CFIUS were cleared.

China's interference in Hong Kong reaching alarming levels: U.S. congressional panel

By Greg Torode | HONG KONG
Members from the pro-democracy Civic Party carry a portrait of Gui Minhai (L) and Lee Bo during a protest outside the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong, China January 19, 2016. 

A U.S. congressional panel has warned of an "alarming" rise in China's interference in Hong Kong, noting fears over the former British colony's continued role as a global financial hub.
In its annual report to the Congress on Wednesday, the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlights the "chilling" abduction and detention of five booksellers based in Hong Kong as well as pressure on media and academic freedoms.
Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement that ensures its freedoms, independent legal system and wide-ranging autonomy remain intact.
The commission, in a detailed 33-page section, urges a fresh probe from the State Department into Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms, as well as continued congressional oversight.
"Hong Kong's traditional standing as a global financial hub has significant economic implications for the United States, as U.S. trade and investment ties with Hong Kong are substantial," the report notes.
It says the booksellers' detentions -- including two foreign nationals and one who was abducted inside Hong Kong -- broadened domestic fears of mainland encroachment and sparked a record turnout in September's legislative election.
"This incident has threatened the maintenance of the 'one country, two systems' framework and led some observers to question Hong Kong's status as a leading global financial hub," the report warns.
"The election took place against the backdrop of an alarming rise in mainland interference in Hong Kong."
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Hong Kong was an internal matter for China and no foreign country had the right to interfere.
"In order to try to split the country, some forces have openly sought foreign support," Geng told a daily news briefing.
"Those who attempt to use foreign forces to achieve their own political goals will not succeed."
The report comes amid deepening concerns in Beijing over a fledgling independence movement in the city. 

The High Court this week backed a government demand to bar two recently elected lawmakers, who insulted China when taking their oath of office, from the legislature.
A Hong Kong government statement after the report's release said the "one country, two systems" principle was being implemented successfully, as was the city's role as a global commercial hub. 

It also urged foreign parties not to interfere.
The booksellers were involved in the production and sale of gossipy political titles banned in mainland China but freely available in Hong Kong. 

Their plight deepened Western governments' concerns about Hong Kong and sparked formal diplomatic protests.
One of the five men, Swedish passport holder Gui Minhai, who disappeared from the Thai resort of Pattaya last October, is the only one still in detention in China.
Another, Lam Wing-kee, returned to Hong Kong in June, saying he had been held captive by Chinese agents for eight months.
The report places the worsening climate in the city in the context of China's broader disregard for international legal agreements and norms in issues such as the South China Sea and Taiwan.

Sina Delenda Est

U.S. panel urges probe on whether China weakening U.S. militarily
By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON

A U.S. advisory commission warned on Wednesday that China's growing military might may make it more likely to use force to pursue its interests and called for a government probe into how far outsourcing to China has weakened the U.S. defense industry.
The annual report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission pointed to a growing threat to U.S. national security from Chinese spying, including infiltration of U.S. organizations, and called on Congress to bar Chinese state enterprises from acquiring control of U.S. firms.
The release of the report to Congress comes a week after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. 

Trump, an outspoken Republican who has vowed to take a tougher line in trade and security dealings with China than Barack Obama, will take office on Jan. 20.
The panel is a bipartisan body set up in 2000 to monitor the national security implications of the U.S. trade and economic relationship with China and to make recommendations to Congress for legislative and administrative action.
Its report also called on Congress to back more frequent U.S. Navy freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, one of the world's busiest trade routes where China's building of artificial islands with military facilities has raised concerns about future freedom of movement. 

Beijing and its neighbors have conflicting territorial claims there.
The commission said ongoing reforms of the People's Liberation Army would strengthen Beijing's hand and noted that China was close to completing its first domestically produced aircraft carrier.
"China’s pursuit of expeditionary capabilities, coupled with the aggressive trends that have been displayed in both the East and South China Seas, are compounding existing concerns about China’s rise among U.S. allies and partners in the greater Asia," the report said.
“Given its enhanced strategic lift capability, strengthened employment of special operations forces, increasing capabilities of surface vessels and aircraft, and more frequent and sophisticated experience operating abroad, China may also be more inclined to use force to protect its interests,” it said.
The panel said that U.S. responses to the threat from Chinese intelligence gathering had suffered from a lack of a coordinated effort by U.S. intelligence agencies.
It said Congress should also direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office to prepare a report "examining the extent to which large-scale outsourcing of manufacturing activities to China is leading to the hollowing out of the U.S. defense industrial base."
"This report should also detail the national security implications of a diminished domestic industrial base (including assessing any impact on U.S. military readiness), compromised U.S. military supply chains, and reduced capability to manufacture state-of-the-art military systems and equipment," it said.
The commission's report also recommended that Congress call on the U.S. State Department to produce educational materials to alert U.S. citizens overseas and students going to China to the dangers of recruitment efforts by Chinese agents.