Recent reports of Chinese malware compromising the Department of Defense military network are revealing but hardly shocking. China’s People’s Liberation Army technological and cyber-capabilities posed a national security risk for the United States for decades. Historically, China prefers to conduct gray zone operations under conventional warfare’s threshold to achieve its national security objectives.
The more significant and more pressing concern for the United States and its allies is the overt and increased willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to steer away from its typical veiled methods of secrecy and to reveal its egregious and passive-aggressive actions. The United States cannot afford to miss the strategic signaling — the Chinese are not coming; they are here.
China adheres to a long-term national grand strategy that exceeds the United States’ short-term planning around the federal government’s electoral cycles of two, four, or six years. In contrast, China plans by generation. Most of its individual dynasties lasted longer than the total history of the United States. Additionally, China has clearly stated and set the goal to become the world’s dominant power by 2049 and end its “century of humiliation.”
Reflecting on a mere handful of public examples within recent months highlights an increased footprint of China’s gray zone operations. In the fall of 2022, President Xi Jinping described former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a “serious provocation.” Early in 2023, a Chinese spy balloon flew across the continental United States before being shot down over coastal waters. In the summer of 2023, Microsoft disclosed the Chinese government had spied on U.S. government agencies via a vulnerability in its cloud-based services.
The debate among U.S. policymakers continues to surround TikTok, the Beijing-based application and weapon of social destruction. The most recent example is Chinese malware planted inside the Department of Defense, creating vulnerability within military cyber networks. In addition, in May 2023, Chinese hackers also compromised military systems in Guam, which houses the United States’ closest military assets near Taiwan.
These actions are directly out of the Chinese Communist Party’s playbook in how the one-party ruled system interfaces and coordinates its national security objectives against its adversaries, including the United States. While diplomatic considerations between the West and the East should be preserved, a strong divide and reality naturally exists between a democratic and authoritarian society.
This reality must be recognized and responded to appropriately by U.S. officials and policymakers. The uptick of the Chinese Communist Party’s nefarious actions places America’s social, political, economic and national security at risk. Absent a response of strength enforced (when necessary) with consequences, the CCP will continue to insert and exploit any advantage to achieve its long-term strategic goals. Peaceful existence or subservience to a Western superpower are not goals of a rising China.
Practical personal recommendations for government and private devices include resetting account passwords frequently and ensuring devices have up-to-date malware, spyware and cybersecurity protections. Refrain from using and uninstalling TikTok from all devices and instead engage with social media applications where governments do not harvest an individual’s information to manipulate and exploit the data.
U.S. leaders must also deny the entry points the CCP is exploiting. The work of the Athenai Institute (where I serve on the board of directors) exposes and works to stop the CCP’s influence on university campuses across the country. America’s institutions of higher learning are not pawns in the CCP’s endgame. Each time the Chinese Communist Party’s gray zone operations are publicly revealed, voices that champion freedom should rally together to form a massive outcry and national response.
Political recommendations for the United States include encouraging companies and individuals to divest funding from CCP-backed corporations. The recent introduction in Congress of the Dump Investments in Troublesome Communist Holdings Act would force divestment from non-profits, university endowments, public pension plans, and/or any other tax-exempt entity to divest from Chinese companies or lose their organization’s tax-exempt status.
The Chinese Communist Party is here and increasingly asserts itself within the border and systems of the United States through the guise of gray zone warfare. In return, U.S. leadership must present a strong national resolve guided by the rule of law, international diplomacy and a military capability prepared to defend and protect its citizens at home and abroad.
Brooke Taylor serves on the board of directors for the Athenai Institute. She is founder and CEO of Defending Our Country, and a distinguished faculty for Missouri State University’s Defense and Strategic Studies Program.
Reprinted with Permission from The DC Journal by Brooke Taylor
The Chinese are a highly focused adversary intent on displacing the United States on the world stage. They understand how to exploit our weaknesses for their own advantage. I think most people, even the dumb fools that rely on the MSM, realize that at some level. Our federal government, for the most part, is a hide bound, bureaucratic mess that essentially moves at a snail’s pace 99% of the time. The author accurately describes the threat being posed by China’s CCP as one would expect from someone with a more balanced private / public sector view of the world. Therefore, demanding a more proactive and engaged response to the threats at hand.
The issue with getting the federal government, even under the direst circumstances, to respond in real-time to an active and ongoing threat, is that government’s default mode of “maintaining the status quo by avoiding doing anything that may risk disturbing the status quo” is deeply embedded in the culture of our federal government. Procrastination and endless delays, by relying on endless studies and meetings, is a very hard culture to overcome. So, while we still continue to endlessly debate simple things like the national security challengers of a CCP spyware app like TikTok after years of proof of it being readily available, the CCP has moved on to tunneling into every government server and database looking for any information they can steal and exploit for their own ends.
Made easy by Biden’s taking money from China! They have a free pass. And our Federal law enforcement and Intel are going after Trump, so they don’t have time to protect the country and Trump is only a political opponent. Because he knows all about them !!
Biden and the boys started selling out America decades ago and his loser, punk junkie kid just follows in daddy joe’s footsteps.He and his democrat cronies have committed treason and deserves the old and forgotten punishment.
I would MUCH rather have Benedict Arnold as president than the prick we have now.
Quiet Chinese has been quietly colonizing Africa and S America for some time while America and the rest of the world slept When you bring in Chinese speaking management and “recommend” that workers learn mandarin I think it is safe to call it colonization It should not come as a shock that they are here there and everywhere I’d like to know what their contribution is to ease the refugee problem
Great article Brooke. I do believe that the matter of long term planning, the generational strategy used by China, as opposed to the short term planning of the United States, puts a great deal in perspective . It is very good that you mentioned this, it provides a clear picture of the situations that are important to consider — for the present and future. The history of the strategies of China, compared to the strategies of the United States should be a reference point in any serious discussion by any U.S. government group when developing ways to defend this Nation. Well Done Brooke, right to the point, understandable writing on this vital issue.
We ALREADY have Chinese INFLUENCE residing in the White House and that’s Jackass Joe Biden!
Sub section 906 Article 106 Spies Says when we catch them HERE we should return them dead!!! SEMPER FIDELIS POISONED!!!”
Well it seems Biden has sold out our country to China already we never started getting hacks at least not as much until Biden came into office . Biden is a complete disgrace and traitor to this country he uses Trump as a for front to hide what he is doin to the United States . Biden along with Obama , Hillary, and Bidens administration along with the F.B.I. and who ever eles is involved should have been in prison by now instead of helping America Bidens goal is to to rip off the American people leave us high and dry , and do everything he can for Ukraine.
They have already replaced america as the main superpower. America will spend all its time worrying about what book is in the library while China makes inroads everywhere.
you are too late lol
The ability of the Chinese to purchase land within the United States should be stopped immediately. The land should be divested from China and resold to individuals of American companies. Also, China should not be allowed to insert its indoctrination into our colleges and universities. We must enforce our borders on land, sea, and sky and use force when necessary.
Find them and execute them.
Excellent article.
So…. When will the President wise up and stop kissing up to China Shut the door on them right now, cut the economic ties. Get a backbone and support your constituents.
We have been appearing as a weakened Country. To all foreign countries and even some 3rd world countries are happy to see our decline, our weakess. Our inability to unite, opens the door to activists bent on chaos, looking to divide us even further, not necessarily with gain in mind, but the pleasure of our own destruction. It amazes me that everyone wants to come here, but no one wants to fit in. Go figure
A sellout of America by the marxist democrat party traitors!
How much do you think obama and biden stole???
Millions……
The writer says U.S. leadership should “*********.” U.S. leadership is leading us down the CCP path. IMO, the Communists took control of America with the Obama Administration. Trump may have been a roadblock but the CCP recovered when they stole the 2020 election. I can see no way for America to recover at this point. The Chinese people have a better chance of throwing off CCP control than we do. Do you see that in the future???
ya, in the white house
The talk about banning Tik Tok has all but disappeared
So, how will we combat and foil the CCP’s intrusions into America if our President is compromised by China? The CCP has Joe, Hunter and all of the Biden family on payroll or payoff, and that requires submission to the CCP so who will lead the charge to rebuff the Chinese attack? We can’t even get our leaders to agree that Tik-Tok is a very bad spy system and to outlaw it.
Why is this article spread out more ? Those people who are running for president do they know about this article ?!? The people in this country are so blindside because they believe there is nothing wrong !! Plus we the PEOPLE should stand up and fight for their lives and their childern!!! Plus are they aware of the Chinese farming in our country!! Yet the farmers in the USA are governed what crops they can produce !!!
One big problem our country has is that the young generations don’t no how good they have it and what Communism really is and how it treats its people. If the people of this country had nothing to eat or a shed to live in without a car or truck to go where ever hey want. And to be told where and when to work, without pay because their slaves to the Government communist C.C.P. no matter how much they may hate the job. And if they don’t do the job their shot. Wake up America because you don’t know how good we have it.
Our government surely is aware of these efforts from CCP. Makes you wonder why there is not a combined effort across party lines to end the internal attacks on our institutions. Which politicians are facilitating this effort by CCP? We need to be rid of this mennace and those who support them.
Whomever claimed increasing CCP access to financial possibilities was a good thing should be tried for treason. We fund their military with every purchase!
See your Local Chinatown OK
Lenovo computers and Huanwei routers all have back doors. Trump banned Huanwei routers. Biden had them installed in DOJ, Defence Department, and other offices as the CIA, etc.
With the way today’s Progressive Democrats, primarily the current Biden administration owes so much to Communist China for getting them into office, it is no wonder Communist Chinese have so much access to U.S. government, social and business information.While Americans fought and died to fight against Communism, politicians were sleeping with, sometimes literally, the enemy.
Great presentation, however, would like to know more about the CCP activities to compromise high level officials in the US Government.