Chinese Aggression Against the U.S.A.

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Far more than trade is involved.

February 4, 2019

Michael Cutler

My previous article for FrontPage Magazine focused on specific threats to the United States that were linked to border security issues raised in the January 29, 2019 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats that was itself predicated on the Intelligence Community’s just-released World-Wide Threat Assessment.

I used the information disclosed at the hearing and contained in that threat assessment report about the dangers to America created by transnational criminal organizations and translational gangs such as MS-13 and the drug cartels in Mexico, as well as the crimes and activities of human traffickers that support the Trump administration’s demands for a border wall, a wall that unbelievably, the leaders of the Democratic Party adamantly oppose.

However, the report included much more material about other global threats that confront the United States and its interests. Simply stated, the world is a dangerous place.

Among the other threats addressed in the report were those posed by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Today we will take a hard look at China and how its aggressive and relentless pursuit of global dominance threatens America.

Before we go any further, we must remember that China is led by a totalitarian Communist regime that is not an ally but rather a serious adversary of the United States.

President Trump is the first American President in decades to take a strong position against Chinese transgressions against the United States where trade, currency manipulation and espionage are concerned.

China has moved swiftly to consolidate its stranglehold on its own citizens by politically eliminating presidential term limits and exploiting ever more sophisticated technological tools such as social media, facial recognition technology, and other such hi-tech means.

On January 13, 2019 CBS News’ 60 Minutes aired a report on the developments in artificial intelligence (AI) brought about by venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee’s investments and China's effort to dominate the AI field.

There is no shortage of specific examples of Chinese espionage committed against the United States and U.S. companies. Such espionage has become so routine and commonplace that the U.S intelligence services have come to refer to this as “Chinese Take-Out"!

Frequently Chinese citizens who acquire lawful immigrant status and United States citizenship use that status to facilitate espionage against America and American companies.

To cite a recent example, on December 21, 2018 the Justice Department issued a press release, Chinese National Charged with Committing Theft of Trade Secrets that began with the following statement:

Hongjin Tan, a 35 year old Chinese national and U.S. legal permanent resident, was arrested on Dec. 20 and charged with theft of trade secrets. Tan is alleged to have stolen the trade secrets from his employer, a U.S. petroleum company.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Trent Shores for the Northern District of Oklahoma, and Special Agent in Charge Kathryn Peterson of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office.

“Hongjin Tan allegedly stole trade secrets related to a product worth more than $1 billion from his U.S.-based petroleum company employer, to use for the benefit of a Chinese company where he was offered employment,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. “The theft of intellectual property harms American companies and American workers. As our recent cases show, all too often these thefts involve the Chinese government or Chinese companies. The Department recently launched an initiative to protect our economy from such illegal practices emanating from China, and we continue to make this a top priority.” 

On January 28, 2019 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release, Chinese telecommunications conglomerate Huawei and Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng charged with financial fraud.

On that same day, January 28th, the Justice Department issued a press release about the same investigation, Chinese Telecommunications Device Manufacturer and its U.S. Affiliate Indicted for Theft of Trade Secrets, Wire Fraud, and Obstruction Of Justice /Huawei Corporate Entities Conspired to Steal Trade Secret Technology and Offered Bonus to Workers who Stole Confidential Information from Companies Around the World.

The DOJ press release also included a link to the ten count indictment.

Besides imposing tariffs against Chinese imports, President Trump has also imposed restrictions on Chinese students who are studying in the United States. This was the focus of my article, "Trump Administration Restricts Chinese Students - Finally, America confronts a massive espionage operation."

This is a welcome change by the administration to protect America and Americans. I have written several articles about Chinese espionage and belligerence and how, for decades, our universities have been training foreign students who seek to exploit our educational system to further the goals and agendas of America’s adversaries, including hundreds of thousands of Chinese STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students who, as they acquire first-rate education in the United States, have been able to work for American companies under the auspices of Optional Practical Training that enables foreign students to apply their training and education in real world jobs for American companies in the United States. This program has facilitated Chinese espionage against American companies including ones that have military contracts.

These long-overdue efforts of the Trump administration should be cheered and supported by all Americans and even American allies around the world who should take similar actions.

Three of my relatively recent articles highlight China’s massive espionage campaign against the United States:

Chinese Citizen Arrested By FBI For Spying On U.S. - A case that highlights the nexus between immigration and espionage.
China Ratchets Up Its U.S. Spying Programs:  American Universities and financial institutions are at risk.
Educating America’s Adversaries:  China’s engineers are building China’s military. Who taught them?

When American companies, in a quest for cheap labor and reduced regulation, have set up factories in China, China has seized the opportunity to engage in industrial espionage against those companies proving that sometimes short-term savings cost more, often much more, in the end.

In some instances, American companies have voluntarily cooperated with China’s totalitarian regime. For example, Google has been enlisted by the Chinese government to help crack down on civil liberties in China against its own citizens even as Google actively and aggressively opposes any efforts by the U.S. government to protect America and Americans from the threat of international terrorists.

My recent article "Google vs Border Security" referenced an article published by The Intercept, titled, “Google Plans To Launch Censored Search Engine In China, Leaked Documents Reveal.”
Eager to do lucrative business in China, Google was willing to “go along to get along” while its dealing with the U.S. government went in precisely the opposite direction.

A September 21, 2018, Newsweek article, “Google Brainstormed Ways To Combat Trump's Travel Ban By Leveraging Search Results For Pro-Immigration Causes,” included the following excerpt: "Google, along with Apple, Facebook and other technology companies, filed a joint amicus brief challenging the travel ban, stating that it “inflicts significant harm on American business, innovation and growth."

Now let’s turn to the Threat Assessment. Consider this excerpt that is found on pages 24 and 25:

China

The Chinese Communist Party’s Concentration of Power
China is deepening its authoritarian turn under President Xi Jinping, and the resulting hardening of Chinese politics and governance probably will make it more difficult for the leadership to recognize and correct policy errors, including in relations with the United States and our allies and partners.

President Xi removed one of the few remaining checks on his authority when he eliminated presidential term limits in March 2018, and the Chinese Communist Party has reasserted control over the economy and society, tightened legal and media controls, marginalized independent voices, and intensified repression of Chinese Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities.

The Chinese Government also is harnessing technology, including facial recognition, biometrics, and vehicle GPS tracking, to bolster its apparatus of domestic monitoring and control.

Beijing’s increasing restrictions on scholars’ and researchers’ freedom of movement and communication with US counterparts may increase the prospects for misunderstanding and misinterpretation of US policies.

Universities in the United States have been willing to accept Chinese demands for changes in curricula in exchange for funding from China. On January 17, 2018 Politico published a report, How China Infiltrated U.S. Classrooms that begins with this passage:

Last year, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte made an announcement to great fanfare: The university would soon open a branch of the Confucius Institute, the Chinese government-funded educational institutions that teach Chinese language, culture and history. The Confucius Institute would “help students be better equipped to succeed in an increasingly globalized world,” says Nancy Gutierrez, UNC Charlotte’s dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and “broaden the University’s outreach and support for language instruction and cultural opportunities in the Charlotte community,” according to a press release.

But the Confucius Institutes’ goals are a little less wholesome and edifying than they sound—and this is by the Chinese government’s own account. A 2011 speech by a standing member of the Politburo in Beijing laid out the case: “The Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for expanding our culture abroad,” Li Changchun said. “It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power. The ‘Confucius’ brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical.”

Li, it now seems, was right to exult. More than a decade after they were created, Confucius Institutes have sprouted up at more than 500 college campuses worldwide, with more than 100 of them in the United States—including at The George Washington University, the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa. Overseen by a branch of the Chinese Ministry of Education known colloquially as Hanban, the institutes are part of a broader propaganda initiative that the Chinese government is pumping an estimated $10 billion into annually, and they have only been bolstered by growing interest in China among American college students.

Yet along with their growth have come consistent questions about whether the institutes belong on campuses that profess to promote free inquiry. Confucius Institutes teach a very particular, Beijing-approved version of Chinese culture and history: one that ignores concerns over human rights, for example, and teaches that Taiwan and Tibet indisputably belong to Mainland China. Take it from the aforementioned Li, who also said in 2009 that Confucius Institutes are an “important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up.” Critics also charge that the centers have led to a climate of self-censorship on campuses that play host to them.

Remarkably, even as Antifa thugs and university administrations seek to block American conservatives from providing their perspectives on college campuses across the United States, Communist China’s outrageous propaganda is embraced and welcomed on American college campuses.

Lenin has been quoted as saying, “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Today there is a fire sale on rope in America and it must end. The sooner the better!


Thank You Mr Cutler and FPM.

US Must Protect Itself Against China Cyber War

zerohedge
Tyler Durden 10/24/2018

Authored by Richard Fisher via The Epoch Times,

The storm of controversy has yet to subside following the Oct. 4 Bloomberg Businessweek blockbuster story that San Jose, California-based Super Micro Computer Inc.’s made-in-China computer motherboards were secretly “hacked” by the People’s Liberation Army over a two-year period. Another episode in the China cyberwar saga.

This particular hack potentially enabled back-door access to the computers of companies such as Apple and Amazon and U.S. government agencies including the Department of Defense, CIA, NSA, and the Navy.

Immediate security implications for the United States and many other countries are enormous, so it’s not surprising that, weeks later, denials of the report far exceed affirmations.


The day the story was released, Super Micro, Amazon, and Apple denied being affected, and on Oct. 18 Apple CEO Tim Cook asked Bloomberg to retract its story.

Officials from the NSA, FBI and Department of Homeland Security have expressed doubts.

During a U.S. Senate hearing Oct. 9, Kirstjen Nielsen, DHS director, said while DHS did not have evidence to support Bloomberg’s contention of computer supply chain interference, she also said, “It is a very real and emerging threat that we are very concerned about.”

Also on Oct. 9, Bloomberg reported that “a major U.S. telecommunications company” had removed Super Micro computer hardware deemed “manipulated” by China, citing Yossi Appleboum, cybersecurity expert and former Israeli Army intelligence officer.

He also told Bloomberg that he has seen similar Chinese manipulations of computer hardware made by various Chinese vendors, noting there are “countless” points in the Chinese supply chain where manipulations can be introduced.

China Wants to Control Global Cyberspace

This controversy will continue, but we can pause to consider its first major message: China is engaged in a war to control global cyberspace.

This is a vital part of its driving ambition to eclipse the United States as the principle global military power and to impose military control over the Earth-Moon system. Furthermore, until the United States can revive Cold War-era-like cooperation among the democratic allies which protects their military dual-use technology and fights back against China’s cyber war, China increasingly will pervert and weaponize the life-enhancing potential offered by digital technologies in its effort to contain and eventually dominate us.

A stark lesson in the pitfalls of cyber-hubris was offered by former President Bill Clinton, who in an October 2000 speech argued for China to be allowed to join the World Trade Organization. He stated the internet would “change China,” suggesting it would weaken Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control.

Today, CCP totalitarianism is enhanced by its control over its internet Great Wall, which isolates Chinese from the global web; allows increasingly intimate control over them via “smart cities” that record their physical movement; and enables future “social credit scores” that will grade their online support for the CCP in order to determine access to better cities, education, and jobs.


Could China someday assign similar social credit scores to everybody who works or plays online?
The China-Super Micro Connection

To do so, China would require the kind of global backdoor access to computer systems said to have been provided by the Chinese contractors making the hardware for Super Micro.

This past January, it was reported that for five years the new African Union headquarters built by China also has been hacked to send confidential information back to China.

Governments increasingly ban or discourage relying on Chinese telecommunication equipment vendors like Huawei or ZTE, while since October 2016 the Pentagon has warned against using Chinese-made Lenovo computers.

Add to this China’s pervasive 24-7 mining of global computer networks, and its specific attacks against companies and databases to amass military, economic, political, and personal data.

This becomes deadly serious considering that in late 2015 the People’s Liberation Army created a new military service, the Strategic Support Force, to ensure China wins in new battlefields dominated by cyber warfare, databases, electronic warfare, energy weapons, and space warfare.

If China can stealthily “manipulate” their computer hardware, it might also be able to turn against us our future unmanned weapons, made deadlier with advances in artificial intelligence.

Thinking of waging a war against an interest of China’s? It may not be unreasonable to expect your officers, soldiers, and their families to receive dissuasive robocalls from China as the opening move in a much more destructive cyber assault. Imagine how China might seek to manipulate your future “brain chip,” especially if it was made in China.

Consequently, as the Trump administration has sought to illustrate in an Oct. 5 report on the U.S. manufacturing and defense industrial base, the United States must invest in reviving domestic American sources for military-critical industries, including those feeding our electronic infrastructure.

Washington also must go on the offensive. It should seek to revive proven institutions like the former Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls to better control China’s access to Western military technology.

There is also a need for a multilateral cyber and information campaign that exploits China’s cyber weaknesses. For example, obtaining the ability to manipulate the internet social credit scores of 300 million Chinese could turn up the political heat on the 90 million members of the CCP.

Thank You Mr Durden and Mr Fisher.

Report: Arms Supplied By The U.S. To Syrian Rebels Often Fell Into The Hands of ISIS

freebeacon
Natalie Johnson
December 20, 2017 5:00 am

Roughly 90 percent of weapons and ammunition deployed by ISIS were manufactured in China, Russia, and Eastern European countries

Arms supplied by the United States to Syrian rebels under the Obama administration were regularly captured by the Islamic State and used against American-led coalition forces, according to an international arms monitoring group.

The London-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) disclosed in its latest report that most of the arms recovered from ISIS were stolen in bulk from the Iraqi and Syrian militaries during initial advances by the militant group in 2014. But many of the group's weapons, particularly newly manufactured ammunition, were initially provided by the United States and Saudi Arabia to Syrian opposition forces battling President Bashar al Assad.

The report detailed a dozen cases in which arms purchased by the U.S. for Syrian rebels ended up in ISIS's arsenal. In one instance, it took militants less than two months to capture a guided antitank missile bought by the Pentagon from Bulgaria and supplied to a Syrian opposition group.

The occurrence demonstrates the swiftness in which U.S.-supplied weapons can be turned against its own troops and allies.

"These findings are a stark reminder of the contradictions inherent in supplying weapons into armed conflicts in which multiple competing and overlapping non-state armed groups operate," the report said. CAR later noted that international efforts to supply weapons to rebel groups "have significantly augmented the quantity and quality of weapons available to [ISIS] forces."

Investigators were unable to determine whether the 40,000 weapons recovered from ISIS over the past three years were captured on the battlefield or acquired from Syrian rebels amid ever-changing alliances.

The Obama administration began covertly supplying weapons to moderate Syrian rebel groups in 2013 to combat the Assad regime. President Donald Trump ended the secretive CIA operation in July, but a publicly known federal program to arm the Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS remains in place.

The report found no evidence of SDF weapons falling into the hands of ISIS.

CAR said all of the weapons purchased by the United States were manufactured in European Union states, raising the prospect that the Pentagon violated international contracts.

"At the very least, the diversion of weapons documented in this report has eroded the trust that exporting authorities placed in the recipient governments," the authors wrote. "At worst, the diversions occurred in violation of signed agreements that commit recipient governments not to retransfer materiel without the exporter's prior consent."

Though the terrorist group often showcased American-made weapons presumably seized from Iraqi security forces in its propaganda videos, the majority of arms captured by ISIS came from Russia and China.

Roughly 90 percent of weapons and ammunition deployed by ISIS were manufactured in China, Russia, and Eastern European countries, with Moscow and Beijing accounting for more than 50 percent, according to the report. By comparison, NATO-produced weapons and ammunition accounted for 3 percent and 13 percent of ISIS's arsenal, respectively. 

This entry was posted in National Security and tagged ISIS, Syria. Bookmark the permalink.

Thank You Ms Johnson and Free Beacon

North Korea Linked To Reckless Global Cyber Attack

freebeacon
Bill Gertz
December 20, 2017 5:00 am

Pyongyang hackers behind WannaCry malware used software flaw first uncovered by NSA

North Korea conducted a "reckless" global cyber attack affecting governments and businesses around the world, the Trump administration revealed on Tuesday.

"After careful investigation, the United States is publicly attributing the massive WannaCry cyberattack to North Korea," said Tom Bossert, White House homeland security and counterterrorism chief.

"We do not make this allegation lightly. We do so with evidence, and we do so with partners," he added.

The WannaCry malware is considered a ransomware worm that spread very rapidly through global computer networks in May. The malware affected Windows computers and encrypted files on hard drives then demanded ransom payments in bitcoin to unscramble the data.

One significant victim was Britain's National Health Care Service networks.

Officials and security experts say the North Korean hackers behind the attacks were able to exploit an operating system vulnerability first uncovered by National Security Agency cyber intelligence-gathering hackers.

WannaCry was initially suspected of being a variant of Russian Petya malware. Since May, NSA, other U.S. intelligence agencies, and private security firms, however, were able to trace the origin of the malware to North Korea.

WannaCry infected computers in over 150 nations and some victims who paid ransom to the hackers to unlock frozen data found after paying they were unable to decrypt their data.

"This was a careless and reckless attack," Bossert told reporters. "It affected individuals, industry, governments, and the consequences were beyond economic. The computers affected badly in the UK and their healthcare system put lives at risk, not just money."

Bossert said other governments and private security firms agreed with the U.S. findings. They include Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan.

Microsoft was able to trace the attack to hackers linked to the North Korean government, he added.

The WannaCry ransomware attack is the second major cyber attack blamed on North Korea.

In late 2014, the U.S. government revealed that North Korea carried out a damaging and high profile hack of networks at Sony Pictures Entertainment, stealing data and publishing it online as well as destroying computer systems.

The NSA determined North Korea conducted the Sony attack since its own hackers had successfully penetrated many computer networks used by North Korean hackers. NSA spying on North Korea was revealed in documents made public by renegade NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Bossert said North Korea has been conducting nefarious hacking activities largely unchecked for more than a decade. "Its malicious behavior is growing more egregious, and stopping that malicious behavior stops with this step of accountability," he said.

Bossert said tech companies including Microsoft and Facebook recently disabled a number of North Korean "cyber exploits," and disrupted operations of North Koreans that were infecting computers around the world. "They shut down accounts the North Korean regime hackers used to launch attacks and patched systems," he said.

North Korea is known to use third country locations, including China and Thailand for many of its cyber attacks, according to security experts.

Disclosure of the North Korean WannaCry hack comes a day after President Trump released his administration's first national security strategy that focuses significant attention on countering damaging cyber attacks and cyber espionage.

The new strategy states that the administration will do more to identify threats and security risks in cyber space.

"To improve the security and resilience of our critical infrastructure, we will assess risk across six key areas: national security, energy and power, banking and finance, health and safety, communications, and transportation," the strategy report says.

"We will assess where cyberattacks could have catastrophic or cascading consequences and prioritize our protective efforts, capabilities, and defenses accordingly."

Jeanette Manfra, Homeland Security assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, said WannaCry attacks began May 12 and began in Asia and spread to Europe.

After the British healthcare network was attacked, "we knew we were dealing with a serious issue, and began to activate our domestic-industry partnership," said Manfra, who briefed reporters with Bossert.

DHS then shared what it knew about WannaCry with all major internet service providers.

The quick information-sharing response limited the damage but the danger of new and more damaging cyber attacks continues.

"We are seeing increased activity and sophistication from both nation-states and non-state actors,' Manfra said. "In many instances, these are the same adversaries we have faced in the past. They are just now operating in a different space."

DHS and FBI warned in a technical report published in August that North Korea was continuing to use botnet attacks in targeting critical U.S. infrastructures.

The report said North Korean government hackers were targeting media, aerospace, financial, and critical infrastructure sectors in the United States and around the world.

The botnets, or networks of hijacked computers, are being used by the North Koreans for denial of service attacks that disrupt the use of computer networks.

The two agencies then warned in November that North Korean hackers were continuing to engage in cyber attacks.

Manfra said one problem with such attacks is that the internet was designed for interoperability, trust, and openness, but without engineering good security features into the system.

As a result, "attackers only have to be right once but defenders have to be right all the time," she said.

Manfra said defending against internet-based attacks will require greater government and private sector cooperation.

"Government and industry must work together now more than ever if we are serious about improving our collective defense," she said. "We cannot secure our homeland alone. A company can't single-handedly defend itself against a nation-state attacker. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. We all play a part in keeping the internet safe."

The problem for many tech companies is a lack of trust in working with government following disclosures several years ago by Snowden showing NSA cyber spying. As a result, many companies are leery of working with the government over privacy concerns.

"To prevent another attack like WannaCry, we are calling on all companies to commit to the collective defense of our nation," Manfra said.

Bossert denied the government was slow to respond to the WannaCry attack. "We took a lot of time to look through classified, sensitive information," he said.

The evidence of North Korean links included technical connections to cyber tools used by Pyongyang's hackers, along with indicators of North Korean cyber tradecraft and operational infrastructure.

Many cyber security specialists credited cyber security expert Marcus Hutchins for mitigating the effects of the malware. Hutchins spotted WannaCry early in the May attack and found a way to limit its spread.

Hutchins discovered a flaw in the malware—a digital kill switch—and turned it on. "He took a risk, it worked, and it caused a lot of benefit," Bossert said. "Next time, we're not going to get so lucky."

Without elaborating, Bossert said "we're comfortable in this case … that it was directed by the government of North Korea."

Intermediaries of the government were used in WannaCry and they were traced to North Korean government cyber attacks in the past.

The activities of North Korean hacker squads and their operating methods are not well known.

Bossert said the administration's new pressure policy on North Korea is aimed at forcing Pyongyang to halt the cyber attacks.

The amount of money the North Koreans may have raised with the ransomware is not known. However, the operation did not appear similar to criminal ransomware attacks that are designed to raise cash.

"They didn’t want to get a lot of money out of this," Bossert said. "If they did, they would have opened computers if you paid. Once word got out that paying didn’t unlock your computer, the payment stopped."

Instead of cash, the North Koreans were engaged in a cyber attack designed to cause havoc and destruction with money as an ancillary benefit.

Bossert said exposing the North Korean role in WannaCry ransomware is a first step in alerting the regime that the United States is "going to move to stop their behavior."

The White House adviser also noted that the administration recently moved to block the government from using Kaspersky Lab security software because of worries the software reports back to the Russian government on those that use it.

"I think we're leading to take bad actors—whether they be Russia, North Korea, at times China and Iran—off the internet and knocking them off their game," Bossert said.

The government waited for months before going public with the findings on WannaCry to avoid mistakenly blaming someone else.

"It's hard to find that smoking gun, but what we've done here is combine a series of behaviors," Bossert said. "We've got analysts all over the world, but also deep and experienced analysts within our intelligence community that looked at not only the operational infrastructure, but also the tradecraft and the routine and the behaviors that we've seen demonstrated in past attacks. And so you have to apply some gumshoe work here, not just some code analysis."

A shadowy hacker group called the Shadow Brokers is believed to have exposed publicly that NSA had uncovered the flaw in the Microsoft operating system that was exploited by the North Koreans.

Bossert said the U.S. government reveals 90 percent of such flaws that it finds to help private companies fix the flaws.

The flaws that are kept secret are used for national security purposes.

Bossert said the U.S. government needs to better protect its cyber intelligence tools, and he noted that when such tools leak it is very unfortunate.

Thank You Mr Gertz and Free Beacon