Trump directs government to minimise procurement from China

Tan KW

Publish date: Sat, 16 Jan 2021, 02:04 PM

In another action against China days before he leaves office, US President Donald Trump on Friday directed government departments to look at ways to minimise procurement of Chinese goods and services to reduce the risks from espionage, his national security adviser said.

In a statement, Robert O’Brien accused China of targeting the information systems of the US government for personnel records, military plans, and other data through cyber and other means.

“For this reason, the United States must take corresponding actions to protect American interests. We must adjust our regulations and policies and take other necessary actions to reduce the risk of PRC technical and human espionage activities directed at the Federal Government,” he said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

He said Trump had directed government bodies to conduct reviews “to minimise the procurement of People’s Republic of China (PRC) goods and services by the Federal Government.”

O’Brien did not give examples of the procurement he referred to, but a senior administration official said a key aim was to push back against Chinese attempts to infiltrate US IT networks.

“Anything having to do with Chinese companies that are going to have kit components in our network could potentially become a vulnerability that could be used to continue China’s military-civil fusion strategy,” the official said.

“If there’s hardware, for example, that would make its way into our networks, that’s the sort of stuff that could pose a potential vulnerability.”

The announcement comes less than a week before Trump leaves office to be succeeded by Democrat Joe Biden on Jan 20. It was the latest in a series of steps targeting China, which analysts see as a bid to lock in a tough approach to Beijing.

Trump has pursued hard-line policies toward China on issues ranging from trade to espionage and COVID-19. Relations plummeted to their worst level in decades when he ramped up rhetoric in his unsuccessful re-election campaign.

The Trump administration on Thursday labeled China, Iran, Russia, Cuba and North Korea as foreign adversaries as part of a new set of rules aimed at protecting the US telecoms supply chain.

The rules, which implement an executive order that US President Donald Trump signed in May, 2019, will go into effect 60 days after publication.

- Reuters

Discussions

Be the first to like this. Showing 5 of 5 comments

DickyMe

A simple solution for US is to ban trade with China altogether.
Shift all US manufacturing and technologies back to home.

2021-01-16 14:16

winterwolf

If it is so simple, they would have done so 4 years ago.
America is now left with the upper chain of industry.
The lower and middle chain, essential as the base to the upper chain is almost non existence. No country in the world except China has encompasses the complete chain of supply and manufacturing.
the American has just to swallow that bitter pill.

2021-01-16 15:37

chinaman

trump trouble maker last day is 20Jan. countdown rid off this world trouble maker....wakaka

2021-01-16 15:47

icecool

@dickyme it will happen 1 step at a time

2021-01-16 16:37

DickyMe

Yes, nothing happens in whole. Baby steps are wise in order to fallback during the march.

2021-01-16 17:58

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