ManufactureThis routinely talks about the importance of boosting U.S. exports in order to support domestic American manufacturing.  And so, we typically support increased exports to China, for example, as a way to reduce the $256 billion annual U.S. trade deficit with Beijing.

  But here’s one that we’re a little wary of: the Bush administration has approved the export of sensitive equipment and expertise to China’s military and police forces to bolster security at the Beijing Olympics, according to an article in yesterday’s Washington Times.  The support includes security and military equipment that is restricted for export under the Export Administration Act, prompting some critics of the policy to question its legality.

Currently, the FBI and other U.S. security agencies are helping China to develop counterterrorism operations ahead of the Beijing Olympics, and are patterning their efforts on the security plan used for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Two problems come to mind, though.

First, the same techniques that can be used for surveillance and military action against potential terrorists can also be used to crack down on internal dissent, or to augment repression of protesters in Tibet, for example.  And so, the democratically-minded United States may be inadvertently giving Beijing the tools to make more voices for Tibetan freedom simply disappear.

Second, the Chinese have become notoriously proficient in stealing intellectual property and computerized systems.  In addition to daily hacking of U.S. computer networks, the Chinese have been accused of spying on U.S. government officials.  The recent incident in which Chinese agents were accused of copying the computer files of a visiting U.S. Commerce Department official only exacerbates concerns that Beijing is stealing U.S. intelligence for its own gain.

Hi-tech security systems provided to Beijing for counter-terrorism efforts will surely mean that China copies and brings to market rival software applications.  Additionally, Beijing will undoubtedly scrutinize these American-made systems for ways to circumvent U.S. defense efforts.

Congress and the Administration have been Missing in Action when it comes to tackling China’s very aggressive, mercantilist trade policies, including dumping and piracy.  So the happy effort to supply Beijing with top U.S. military equipment and software defies common sense.  A good quid pro quo would suggest that if China wants U.S. help, they should start acting more like a cooperative friend.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.