A congressional advisory panel said yesterday that Chinese spying in the US represents the greatest threat to US technology and recommended lawmakers consider financing counterintelligence efforts meant to stop China from stealing US manufacturing expertise.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission also said in its annual report to Congress that small and medium US manufacturers, which represent more than half the manufacturing jobs in the US, "face the full brunt of China's unfair trade practices, including currency manipulation and illegal subsidies for Chinese exports."
Beijing's economic policies create a trade relationship that is "severely out of balance" in China's favor, said the commission, which Congress set up in 2000 to investigate and report on US-China issues.
Commission Chairperson Carolyn Bartholomew told reporters that "China's interest in moving toward a free market economy is not just stalling but is actually now reversing course."
Messages left with the Chinese embassy in Washington were not immediately returned. Chinese officials have reacted to past reports by warning against what they see as outside interference in Chinese affairs.
The report comes about a year before US presidential and congressional elections, and candidates have been critical of what they see as China's failure to live up to its responsibilities as an emerging superpower. China is often singled out for its flood of goods into the US; building a massive, secretive military; abusing its citizens' rights; and befriending rogue nations to secure sources of energy.
US officials also recognize Washington needs Beijing, a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, to secure punishment for Iran's nuclear program and to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
The commission's Democratic and Republican appointees have begun meeting with congressional staff and lawmakers to discuss the report's 42 recommendations.
In the report, the commission said China's spies allow Chinese companies to get new technology "without the necessity of investing time or money to perform research."
Chinese espionage was said to be straining US counterintelligence officials and helping China's military modernization.
While the report praised China for some economic progress this year, improvements were undertaken "with great hesitancy and, even then, only with the prodding of other nations and the World Trade Organization."
China, it said, "maintains a preference for authoritarian controls over its economy" and has done too little to police widespread copyright piracy of foreign goods sold in China.
The commission also faulted China for keeping its currency artificially low. US manufacturers have complained that a low yuan makes Chinese goods cheaper in the US and US products more expensive in China.
China's dependence on coal, lack of energy efficiency and poor enforcement of environmental regulations, the report said, "are creating devastating environmental effects that extend throughout the region and beyond" to the US.
The commission said tensions between Taiwan and China have created an "emotionally charged standoff that risks armed conflict if not carefully managed by both sides. Such a conflict could involve the United States."
The US has hinted it would go to war to protect Taiwan if nuclear-armed China were to attack.
The report also described what it said was China's tight control over information distribution, which allows Beijing "to manage and manipulate the perceptions of the Chinese people, often promoting nationalism and xenophobia."
Beijing, the report said, uses its control of the media to influence its perception in the US, which could endanger US citizens if reports on food and product safety and disease outbreaks are manipulated.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers