OPED: US Private Sector Must Team With Government to Counter China

By Greg Levesque, CEO, Strider

Are the United States and our allies willing to do what is necessary to effectively counter the People’s Republic of China’s Military-Civil Fusion Doctrine?

The People’s Republic of China’s expansive ambitions to dominate the global technology sector knows no bounds. Yet – despite a seemingly endless stream of warnings, thefts, and provocations – the U.S. and our allies still have no coherent plan to counter China’s bold actions which erase the line between the commercial sphere and geopolitical strategy. To China, commercial conflict and nation-state conflict are not separate; they are part of the same ongoing effort for global dominance.

The latest: China announced a few weeks ago that it is restricting the exports of two metals – gallium and germanium – vital for the manufacturing of semiconductors. This comes on the heels of other disturbing actions. A former Samsung executive in South Korea was recently arrested for stealing technology to build a copycat semiconductor plant in China. In June, a researcher at one of Japan’s premier government research institutes was arrested for leaking data to a company based in China. Meanwhile, China has clamped down on information about business activities in an effort to obscure its commercial and military activities from Western analysts.

The U.S. and our allies need to reimagine our toolkit to address the full scope of the threat and develop a comprehensive strategy that includes stopping wide-scale IP theft and economic espionage as part of a national defense strategy vis a vis China.

Today, the United States is conducting a review of our National Defense Strategy led by former Congresswoman Jane Harmon and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman. The goal, which was mandated by the 2022 Defense Authorization bill, is to examine the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS) and make recommendations for its implementation, with a focus on assumptions, objectives, defense investments, force posture and structure, operational concepts, and military risks.

As part of this strategy review, the United States needs to give further consideration to how we and our allies think about China’s military-civil fusion strategy. China doesn’t draw a line between commercial and nation-state conflict; neither can we, if we are to effectively counter the threat. So the U.S. needs to develop a public-private partnership to take on the challenge.

Beijing doesn’t hide its national ambitions; it uses all aspects of its military and civilian infrastructure to achieve its goals. China doesn’t just seek military dominance (though of course it does), but sees hard power and soft power inextricably linked.