Republican And Democrat Senators Call On Biden Admin To Protect US Innovation From China

Republican Senator Marco Rubio (FL) and Democrat Senator Mark Warner (VA), vice chair and chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent letters to the Biden administration calling for the expansion of existing tools to prevent “China’s military-industrial complex and entities complicit in its genocide from benefiting from U.S. technology, talent, and investments,” a press release from Rubio’s office said. 

“The flow of U.S. technology, talent, data, and capital into the People’s Republic of China is a threat to the U.S. and its businesses, investors, and consumers,” the press release explained. 

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the senators wrote, “It is widely known that the PRC’s Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) program targets technological advancements in the U.S., as well as university and research partnerships with the U.S., for the PRC’s military development.”

“U.S. technology, talent, and capital continue to contribute—through both lawful and unlawful means, including theft—to the PRC’s development of critical military-use industries, technologies, and related supply chains. The breadth of the MCF program’s ambitions and reach creates dangerous vulnerabilities for U.S. national and economic security as well as undermines respect for democratic values globally,” the senators added.

They also sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, saying, “Despite recent restrictions on the export of sensitive technologies critical to U.S. national security, we remain deeply concerned that American technology, investment, and talent continue to support the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) military industrial complex, intelligence and security apparatus, its ongoing genocide, and other PRC efforts to displace United States economic leadership. As such, we urge the Department of Commerce to immediately use its authorities to more broadly restrict these activities.”