{"id":2012,"date":"2018-10-05T00:47:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T00:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2018-10-05T00:48:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T00:48:20","slug":"pentagon-sees-china-as-growing-risk-to-u-s-defense-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2018\/10\/05\/pentagon-sees-china-as-growing-risk-to-u-s-defense-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon sees China as ‘growing risk’ to U.S. defense industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China represents a \u201csignificant and growing risk\u201d to the supply of materials vital to the U.S. military, according to a new Pentagon-led report that seeks to mend weaknesses in core U.S. industries vital to national security.\u00a0The nearly 150-page report, seen by Reuters on Thursday ahead of its formal release on Friday, concluded there are nearly 300 vulnerabilities that could affect critical materials and components essential to the U.S. military.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reuters was first to report on the study\u2019s major conclusions on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The analysis included a series of recommendations to strengthen American industry, including by expanding direct investment in sectors deemed critical. The specific plans were listed in an unreleased, classified annex.<\/p>\n

China was given heavy emphasis in the report. It was singled out for dominating the global supply of rare earth minerals critical in U.S. military applications. The report also noted China\u2019s global profile in the supply of certain kinds of electronics as well as chemicals used in U.S. munitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cA key finding of this report is that China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials and technologies deemed strategic and critical to U.S. national security,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

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Relations with China are already fraught, with a bitter trade war between the world\u2019s two largest economies adding to tensions over cyber spying, self-ruled Taiwan and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

The report could add to trade tensions with China, bolstering the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cBuy American\u201d initiative, which aims to help drum up billions of dollars more in arms sales for U.S. manufacturers and create more jobs.<\/p>\n

Vice President Mike Pence accused China on Thursday of efforts to undermine President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, saying that Beijing was \u201cmeddling in America\u2019s democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pence\u2019s comments echoed those of Trump himself in remarks at the United Nations last month, when Trump said that \u201cChina has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election.\u201d Chinese officials rejected the charge.<\/p>\n

The report also examined U.S. shortcomings that contribute to weakness in domestic industry, including roller-coaster U.S. defense budgets that make it difficult for U.S. companies to predict government demand. Another weakness cited was in U.S. science and technology education.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough its findings are not likely to move markets, they present an alarming picture of U.S. industrial decay driven by both domestic and foreign factors,\u201d wrote defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Boeing Co and other companies.<\/p>\n

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, cited several new steps to ensure U.S. military\u2019s supplies. These include an effort to build up stockpiled reserves of scarce materials and expand U.S. manufacturing capabilities in things like lithium sea-water batteries that are critical for anti-submarine warfare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China represents a \u201csignificant and growing risk\u201d to the supply of materials vital to the U.S. military, according to a new Pentagon-led report that seeks to mend weaknesses in core U.S. industries vital to national security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2015,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions\/2015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}