Christopher Wray was giving a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library where he highlighted that as American foreign policy remains consumed by Russia-Ukraine tensions, the country continues to regard the Chinese government as its biggest threat to long-term economic security, reports Asian Lite News
FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Monday night that the threat to the West from China is “more brazen” and damaging than ever before. Wray stated that the Chinese government is stealing American ideas and innovation and launching massive hacking operations.
This comes a couple of days before Beijing is ready to occupy the global stage by hosting the Winter Olympics. The FBI Director was giving a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library where he highlighted that as American foreign policy remains consumed by Russia-Ukraine tensions, the country continues to regard the Chinese government as its biggest threat to long-term economic security.
“The harm from the Chinese government’s economic espionage isn’t just that its companies pull ahead based on illegally gotten technology. While they pull ahead, they push our companies and workers behind, “Wray said.
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“That harm — company failures, job losses — has been building for a decade to the crush we feel today. It’s harm felt across the country by workers in a whole range of industries.”
However, the Chinese government has always rejected the allegations launched by America, and China’s envoy to the US said last July that America has “made groundless attacks” and malicious smears about Chinese cyberattacks.
“I’ve spoken a lot about this threat since I became director” in 2017, Wray said. But I want to focus on it here tonight because it’s reached a new level — more brazen, more damaging than ever before, and it’s vital — vital — that all of us focus on that threat together.
In 2014, the Justice Department accused five Chinese military officers on charges of hacking into major American corporations, and a year later, both the US and China signed a deal at the White House to not use each other’s intellectual property or trade secrets. The US has continued to accuse China of hacking and espionage.
Meanwhile, in US, House Republicans criticized a Democratic-led bill intended to make the U.S. economy more competitive as filled with concessions to China, throwing up obstacles to a measure that would also aid the domestic semiconductor industry.
Democrats are aiming for a House vote this week on their version of legislation envisioned as a vehicle for bolstering U.S. manufacturing and research and development.
While Democrats have the votes to push the legislation through the House, Republican opposition will increase the difficulty of negotiations ahead to find a compromise with the Senate, which passed a similar $250 billion measure with bipartisan support last June.
Provisions in the legislation include $52 billion to support domestic chip research and production amid a global semiconductor shortage, as well as authority for $45 billion to improve the nation’s supply chains to prevent shortages of critical goods. It also would set up programs to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and training.
The Biden administration backs passage of the House legislation. If a deal is struck between the House and Senate, the resulting legislation would mark a significant victory for President Joe Biden as his party is facing the potential of losing control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
The bill set for a procedural vote on the House floor on Wednesday with a vote on passage likely on Friday, according to a Democratic aide.
The House bill has some significant differences with the Senate version, including provisions on trade. While the Senate bill has GOP support, Republican leaders in the House were urging their members to vote against it when it comes to the floor.
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