{"id":2481115,"date":"2025-09-01T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T14:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-bars-chinese-nationals-from-sensitive-dod-projects-over-espionage-fears\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T10:50:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T14:50:25","slug":"hegseth-bars-chinese-nationals-from-sensitive-dod-projects-over-espionage-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-bars-chinese-nationals-from-sensitive-dod-projects-over-espionage-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth Bars Chinese Nationals from Sensitive DoD Projects Over Espionage Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhegseth-bars-chinese-nationals-from-sensitive-dod-projects-over-espionage-fears%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2481115&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon will no longer allow Chinese nationals too work on Department of Defense (DOD) coding projects, specifically cloud systems. This follows the discovery of an &#8220;Obama-Biden era legacy program&#8221; called &#8220;digital escorts,&#8221; created by Microsoft, which permitted chinese coders to access these systems under the supervision of remote U.S. contractors. Hegseth described this as an unacceptable security risk and has initiated a formal review, requiring a third-party audit of the program at no cost to taxpayers. Microsoft has since ended the use of China-based engineering teams on DOD cloud systems. The Pentagon was reportedly unaware of the &#8220;digital escort&#8221; program.Hegseth emphasized that all DOD software vendors must eliminate Chinese involvement in defense systems and signaled a full investigation into the program and individuals involved, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/factbox-governments-efforts-to-regulate-ai-tools\/\" title=\"Factbox-Governments\u2019 efforts to regulate AI tools\">potential accountability measures<\/a>. The move is part of broader concerns about China&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >long-standing adversarial actions<\/a> against the U.S. in areas such as espionage, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senior-partners-at-firm-hired-to-review-lincoln-project-scandal-have-donated-thousands-to-group\/\" title=\"Senior Partners at Firm Hired to \u2018Review\u2019 Lincoln Project Scandal Have Donated Thousands to Group\">intellectual property theft<\/a>, and economic influence.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that the Pentagon would be barring Chinese nationals from working on Department of Defense coding projects, specifically cloud systems, after discovering a program was allowing them to do so.<\/p>\n<p>An &ldquo;Obama-Biden era legacy program&rdquo; called &ldquo;digital escorts&rdquo; had previously allowed Chinese coders to work in roles crafted by Microsoft under the supervision of remote U.S. contractors, according to a video posted to the social media site X by Hegseth.<\/p>\n<p>He said this ultimately &ldquo;exposed the department to unacceptable risks.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I mean, if you&rsquo;re thinking America first and common sense, this doesn&rsquo;t pass either of those tests,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pete-hegseth-pulls-plug-navy-vice-admiral-nominee-woke-past-comes-light-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hegseth<\/a> added. &ldquo;So I initiated an immediate review of this vulnerability, and I want to report our initial findings.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The use of Chinese nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments, it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Hegseth said a formal letter was issued to Microsoft and that the DOD would be requiring a third-party audit of the &ldquo;digital escort&rdquo; program, free of charge to American taxpayers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Additionally, all Department of Defense software vendors will identify and terminate any Chinese involvement in DOD systems,&rdquo; Hegseth explained.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It blows my mind that I&rsquo;m even saying these things, it&rsquo;s such common sense, that we ever allowed it to happen. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re attacking it so hard,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We expect vendors doing business with the Department of Defense to put U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trust-in-media-hits-record-low-new-study-blames-readers-for-lack-of-confidence\/\" title=\"Trust In Media Hits Record Low\u2026 New Study Blames Readers For Lack Of Confidence\">national security ahead<\/a> of profit maximization.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth added that there will be a full-scale investigation into the program, as well as the coders themselves, to uncover any nefarious activity.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The use of Chinese Nationals to service Department of Defense cloud environments is over. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jZdcHwKho2\">pic.twitter.com\/jZdcHwKho2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDef\/status\/1960824471683801206?\">August 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Microsoft has terminated the use of any China-based engineering teams for DOD cloud systems, and we will continue to collaborate with the U.S. Government to ensure we are meeting their expectations,&rdquo; a company spokesperson <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/5475632-heggeth-halts-chinese-coders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told The Hill<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We remain committed to providing the most secure services possible to the US government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed,&rdquo; they remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Pentagon officials claimed they did not know Microsoft had created a &ldquo;digital escort&rdquo; program.<\/p>\n<p>This is a rational move by Hegseth. But more importantly, how was this even allowed to happen in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/chinese-auto-industry-brink-collapse-gets-truly-brutal-gut-punch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chinese<\/a> have been making power moves against the United States for decades. Allowing them to operate anywhere near our defense systems is insane.<\/p>\n<p>The country has purchased American farmland, spied on us, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/news\/ex-md-anderson-cancer-center-researcher-accused-trying-steal-trade-secrets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stolen<\/a> intellectual property, and manipulated trade, all while flooding U.S. markets with fentanyl. And these are just a few of the things they&rsquo;ve been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trumps-plan-chinese-students-draws-widespread-backlash-conservatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">caught doing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth&rsquo;s plan is a good first step, but if his investigation uncovers any wrongdoing, people need to be prosecuted.<\/p>\n<p>If there is no true accountability, things like this will continue to happen. China will then know it&rsquo;s open season on the U.S. as they continue marching forward toward their goal of world domination.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the Pentagon will prohibit Chinese nationals from participating in Department of Defense coding projects, particularly those involving cloud systems, after uncovering a program that permitted their involvement. This &#8220;digital escorts&#8221; program, described as an &#8220;Obama-Biden era legacy initiative,&#8221; had allowed Chinese programmers to work on tasks designed by Microsoft under the supervision of remote U.S. contractors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2481116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pete_Hegseth.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[56215,62378,12646,45173,34722],"class_list":["post-2481115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-chinese-nationals","tag-dod-projects","tag-espionage","tag-hegseth","tag-security-concerns"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pete_Hegseth.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481115"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2481119,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481115\/revisions\/2481119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2481116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}