US military concerned by overdependence on China
A Pentagon review ordered by President Donald Trump has found that the US military is overdependent on critical technologies on components coming from foreign countries, specially China, a report has revealed.
The study, which will be released by the US Department of Defense over the coming weeks, has identified hundreds of instances where the US military is completely reliant on products that it doesn’t own.
These products also include micro-electronics, tiny components such as integrated circuits and transistors used in everything from satellites and cruise missiles to drones and mobile phones, according to Reuters.
The study is fueled by Trump’s so-called America First policy and aims to limit or eliminate dependence on foreign countries who could turn into adversaries in the future.
This is highly possible in China’s case, amid an all-out trade war by the White House against the Eastern Asian power.
Military ties between the two sides took a major hit as a result of the trade fallout as Beijing has recently postponed direct military ties with Washington.
The move came after Washington imposed sanctions on the Chinese military for buying Russian fighter jets and surface-to-air missile systems.
The American military forces are so dependent on Chinese components that some officials are afraid Beijing would simply cut off vital supplies or, in worst case scenarios, sabotages equipment and rigs them for espionage purposes.
The Pentagon has long feared “kill switches” that foreign suppliers could embed in their transistors, giving them the freedom to turn off sensitive US systems in case of a conflict.
Moreover, the US has become over-reliant on China’s supplies of rare earth minerals, which are used in countless every day and special devices employed by the US military.
The Pentagon has also released a new cyber warfare strategy that openly accuses China of stealing public and private sector data in order to gain an economic advantage. This is while Trump has accused China of stealing US intellectual property for economic gains.
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