Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) led a group of seven Senators to send a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pressing the Pentagon, “to publish the names of “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States, as required by Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.”
The letter was co-signed by Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
We write to express our concerns regarding the Department of Defense’s failure to annually publish the names of “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States, as required by Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
Congress passed this provision with bipartisan support in order to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army. As the phrase “Military-Civil Fusion” implies, the concept is to eliminate barriers between China’s civilian research and commercial sectors, and its military and defense industrial sectors. China’s efforts threaten the trust, transparency, reciprocity, and shared values that underpin international science and technology collaboration and fair global business practices. In a secretive and exploitative manner, China is acquiring the intellectual property, key research, and technological advancements of the world’s citizens, researchers, scholars, and private industry in order to advance its military aims.
To counter that effort, it is imperative that the Department of Defense continues to release the “Chinese military companies” list. The public release of this list ensures that U.S. and international companies are aware of specific Chinese entities that are supporting China’s military ambitions.
We request a briefing on why the Department of Defense failed to produce the “Chinese
military companies” list in 2023, as mandated by Section 1260H of the FY2021 NDAA. As part of that briefing, we request an update on the process for determining how the Department of Defense develops, updates, and publishes the list.
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