{"id":418821,"date":"2021-04-13T18:58:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T22:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=418821"},"modified":"2021-04-13T18:58:19","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T22:58:19","slug":"biden-admin-gives-valuable-defense-contract-to-china-collaborator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-admin-gives-valuable-defense-contract-to-china-collaborator\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Admin Gives Valuable Defense Contract to China Collaborator"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fbiden-admin-gives-valuable-defense-contract-to-china-collaborator%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=418821&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/China-Flag-4-e1602778068266.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Biden administration awarded a lucrative defense contract to a Singaporean company that works with Chinese military firms.<\/p>\n<p><span>On April 6, Singapore-based ST Engineering&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.executivebiz.com\/2021\/04\/army-selects-bae-oshkosh-st-engineering-team-to-build-arctic-vehicle-prototypes\/\"><span>won<\/span><\/a><span> a contract alongside defense contractor BAE Systems to build a prototype military ground vehicle for use in Arctic environments. One of ST Engineering&#8217;s direct subsidiaries does business with the Chinese military industry, ultimately providing maritime and satellite technology to Chinese authorities. The use of a defense company that collaborates with China raises concerns about industrial espionage and could expose vulnerabilities in the Pentagon, one expert on military acquisition said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Mark Vandroff, a former Navy officer and member of the Trump administration&#8217;s National Security Council, told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> the contract could pose an &#8220;attractive&#8221; way for Beijing to gain inside knowledge on valuable national security technology.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My big worry is from a cyber and counterintelligence perspective,&#8221; Vandroff said. &#8220;I would worry not only that any collaboration gets back to China, but that [it] also becomes an attractive cyber pathway for [People&#8217;s Republic of China] exploitation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>ST Engineering oversees iDirect,&nbsp;a technology company servicing the Pentagon while developing technology for China.&nbsp;iDirect is a major&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lightreading.com\/broadband\/wireless-satellite\/idirect-expands-in-asia\/d\/d-id\/643281?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.lightreading.com\/broadband\/wireless-satellite\/idirect-expands-in-asia\/d\/d-id\/643281?&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618426370734000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGSaNJ7h7HcoFc-1NPz0WQd89gwtA\">partner<\/a>&nbsp;in satellite communications with PetroChina, the Beijing-backed energy company with ties to the Chinese military. Satellite systems also designed by iDirect are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jamestown.org\/program\/chinas-use-of-u-s-satellite-communications-technology-in-the-south-china-sea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/jamestown.org\/program\/chinas-use-of-u-s-satellite-communications-technology-in-the-south-china-sea\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1618426370734000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGBru2rINM8mOKlMG4Vv9ISvwW0Qg\">equipped<\/a>&nbsp;by China for maritime law enforcement<span>. In 2018, ST Engineering also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.byd.com\/sites\/Satellite?c=BydArticle&amp;cid=1514429232777&amp;d=Touch&amp;pagename=BYD_EN%2FBydArticle%2FBYD_ENCommon%2FArticleDetails\"><span>worked<\/span><\/a><span> with the Chinese car company BYD Auto to develop AI forklifts, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stengg.com\/en\/newsroom\/news-releases\/st-engineering-expands-autonomous-bus-platforms-with-byd-electric-buses\/\"><span>again<\/span><\/a><span> in 2019 for autonomous buses, technologies that could have defense applications.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The company&#8217;s direct cooperation with Chinese firms has raised concerns on Capitol Hill about ST Engineering&#8217;s successful Pentagon contract bid. Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the federal government is &#8220;lagging behind geopolitical reality&#8221; of China&#8217;s threat to American interests. The Defense Department should be wary of getting involved with firms that also profit from their relationship with the Chinese regime.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Since 2015, the Pentagon has officially recognized China as a serious threat to our national security. The federal government needs to quit lagging behind geopolitical reality and ignoring its own national security strategy,&#8221; Banks said. &#8220;We need to start treating China like the existential threat it plainly is. The United States shouldn&#8217;t be funding Chinese military companies in any way.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Pentagon spokesman John Supple told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> that ST Engineering&#8217;s contract is now under review.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are aware of the claims, and the [Department of Defense] is reviewing the matter,&#8221; Supple said.<\/p>\n<p><span>ST Engineering did not respond to a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>ST Engineering&#8217;s operations and Chinese ties have also been linked to pervasive human rights abuses. The company has a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/huahinproperty.beste-site.nl\/luxury-villas-for-sale-hua-hin\/hua-hin-property-co-ltd\/\"><span>partnership<\/span><\/a><span> with Jiangsu Huatong Power Heavy Industry Co., a construction company with an office in Urumqi, Xinjiang&#8217;s capital. Jiangsu is primarily focused on infrastructure construction, a common task for companies involved in the Uighur genocide in western China. In July 2020, the Trump administration <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sm1073\"><span>sanctioned<\/span><\/a><span> fellow construction group <\/span><span>Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a<\/span><span> paramilitary organization responsible for serious human rights abuses in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Army officials picked the firm to develop crucial military equipment as competition with China and Russia in the Arctic heats up. China hopes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/research\/northern-expedition-chinas-arctic-ambition-and-activism\/\">ascend<\/a> to &#8220;polar great power&#8221; status by 2030.&nbsp;A strategy document&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/downloads\/2021\/03\/15\/9944046e\/regaining-arctic-dominance-us-army-in-the-arctic-19-january-2021-unclassified.pdf\">declassified<\/a> by the Army in March highlighted China&#8217;s incursion into the Arctic as a &#8220;central problem&#8221; for U.S. national security.&nbsp;<\/span><span>The Department of the Army did not respond to a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden administration awarded a lucrative defense contract to a Singaporean company that works with Chinese military firms. On April 6, Singapore-based ST Engineering\u00a0won a contract alongside defense contractor BAE &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312134,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/China-Flag-4-e1602778068266.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Admin Gives Valuable Defense Contract to China Collaborator","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/China-Flag-4-e1602778068266.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Admin Gives Valuable Defense Contract to China Collaborator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418821","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=418821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}