China Task Force Issues Final Report, Part 2

The China Task Force was created to establish a multi-agency examination of the threat posed by China. We conclude our summary of its Final Report.

National Security

• Working with the DoD to modernize force structure, posture, operational concepts, and acquisitions in order to deter CCP aggression in the Indo-Pacific and around the world

• Ensuring modernization of all three legs of the nuclear triad as well as development and fielding of conventional capabilities critical to counter the PLA in the Indo-Pacific, including ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles

• Underscoring the need for a minimum three to five percent real growth in the defense budget per year in order to deter and defeat the PLA and other key adversaries

• Increasing focus on how the U.S. military protects space capabilities and carrying out space exploration goals by leveraging private sector investments

• Cutting off material support of CCP military industrial base companies, including divestment from companies with ties to the CCP’s military

• Safeguarding the U.S. electoral process and the integrity of our elections with various measures, including the identification of foreign malign actors and ensuring any individuals who engage in interference are inadmissible for entry to the U.S. or deportable if already present

• Providing more resources for investigations, criminal prosecutions, and other actions against CCP sponsored IP theft in addition to closing loopholes the CCP has exploited in our visa system

• Enhancing federal counterintelligence capabilities and bolstering Mandarin language capacity

Technology

• Taking a whole-of-government approach to assess the security risks posed by the PRC in 5G networks and increasing cooperation between the U.S. and its allies and partners in identifying and countering them

• Supporting the formation of a new D-10 group of leading democracies to develop and deploy 5G and subsequent generations and establishing a reimbursement program for companies to remove equipment from their communications networks that poses a national security risk • Securing international leadership in the technologies of tomorrow, including AI, quantum, 5G, and autonomous vehicles

• Sanctioning PRC telecommunications companies engaged in economic or industrial espionage and any PRC entity that tries to hack COVID-19 researchers working on a vaccine

Economics and Energy

• Ensuring no U.S. taxpayer dollars support any PRC state owned enterprises

• Harmonizing export control policies with our partners and allies to keep critical technologies, including

semiconductor manufacturing equipment and R&D, from our adversaries

You can be assured that we are there to respond viagra order shop to any and all of your questions. ED or Erectile dysfunction is an inability in men to get the cheapest price for levitra sturdy and enduring erection. viagra fast shipping The popularity of Bachelors degree in Education in India is ever rising. Kamni capsules are the libido enhancer pills for women which work even for menopause age cipla tadalafil to make their lovemaking activities alive.

• Applying heightened scrutiny for investments in U.S. companies or operations from the PRC

• Strengthening trade relationships with our allies to establish U.S. standards and counter the PRC’s influence

• Pursuing trade policies that deter and protect against the PRC’s theft of IP

• Enforcing reciprocal treatment of PRC investment into the U.S. to restore symmetry in bilateral investment rules

• Ensuring PRC companies are held to the same financial disclosure standards as American companies when listing on U.S. stock exchanges

• Working to deepen our trade ties with Taiwan and resolving specific outstanding trade issues so the

Administration can take steps to launch trade agreement negotiations once those issues are add

ressed

• Strengthening the Development Finance Corporation, Export Import Bank, and other government efforts to more robustly counter the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative and debt trap diplomacy

• Continuing to advance U.S. energy security in order to be a global counter against the PRC, particulary on the nuclear energy front

Competitiveness

• Doubling the funding of basic science and technology research over the next 10 years

• Increasing coordination and funding for STEM education to create a more capable, skilled workforce

• Strengthening the protection of sensitive research at America’s colleges and universities and leading

research institutions which includes restricting all federal employees and contractors from participating in foreign talent programs

• Requiring colleges and universities to annually report all donations from the PRC

Photo: The USS Gabrielle Giffords conducts routine operations in the vicinity of the Chinese vessel Hai Yang Di Zhi 4 Hao, July 1, 2020. The Navy ship, part of Destroyer Squadron Seven, is on a rotational deployment operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet’s area of operations to enhance interoperability with partners and serve as a ready-response force. (DoD photo)

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.