The Pentagon has revitalized technological collaboration with its allies to balance the increasing military competencies of China, listing Chinese technology heavy-hitters Tencent and CATL on its military firms list. This tactical step is indicative of increasing US-China technological conflict, with Washington aiming to restrict Beijing’s access to high-tech systems and intensifying defense ties with a foreign nation and partner through greater intelligence collection and co-creation initiatives.
Defense Department expands Chinese military companies list
Currently, the US Department of Defense has included Chinese tech firm Tencent, a social media and gaming giant, and CATL, the largest battery manufacturer in the world, to its list of companies that it claims collaborate with the military of China, according to CNN. Getting into the Pentagon top ten does not incur any initial penalties, but may have an implication on the reputation of the companies listed, hence making their success in commercial activities difficult.
Tencent shares, the owner of Chinese super-app WeChat, declined in Hong Kong by 6.5 percent on Tuesday, and CATL shares lost over 3 percent in Shenzhen. They are included in a list of dozens of other supposed Chinese military firms whose laboratory operations are alleged to be conducting operations either directly or indirectly in the United States of America by the Defense Department itself.
How military-civil fusion strategy drives Pentagon concerns
The Pentagon has noted that its 1260H list, beneficially reviewed yearly, is a relevant initiative in the course of safeguarding and highlighting the strategy beneath the beam of a military-civil merger in the situation of China. This is an objective that seeks to create the best-bettered military globally by dissolving boundaries that exist between the civilian research and commercial sectors of the nation and its military (Robinson, 2011).
Firms reject military affiliations as tensions rise
Tencent has said in a statement to CNN that it was a mistake to include them on the list because they are not a military-focused company or a provider. CATL, a battery supplier to Tesla with future plans of supplying the same service to Ford to make lithium-ion batteries at a plant in Michigan, claimed it has never done any military-related business or activity.
A high-tech competition between Beijing and Washington has been building up even before the Trump administration. The localized control of the technology exports necessary to mine the raw materials critical to the development of the world-wide electric car industry, announced by Beijing last week, shows the level of interdependence regarding wireless competition in technology.
How the Pentagon unit reinforces the allied cooperation
Pentagon units, according to Real Clear Defense, are increasingly building technology partnerships with allies in light of developing capabilities in China. The project is aimed at improving intelligence and multilateral development services, which are geared towards their technological lead and downplaying their Chinese supply chains and manufacturing capacity. It is expected that this technological competition will accelerate and that there will be a need to continue working internationally to ensure that the technological edge of democratic countries is maintained.
Strategic implications are also not restricted to short-term sanctions
Since assuming power in late 2012, the topmost leader of China, Xi Jinping, has made tremendous efforts to make the Chinese military a world-class fighting machine. One of the major components of such modernization efforts has been to ensure enhanced integration of the national private sector, a defense industrial infrastructure, by sharing resources, talent, and advanced technologies.
The addition of Chinese military firms to the Pentagon list and the increased involvement of partners in the technological alliances point to a subtle movement of the balance in terms of international security. The correlation between technology and national security, as US reactions to Chinese development of a military-civil fusion strategy have shown which has a critical intersection with national security.