CHINA WATCHChinese Government Poses 'Bold and Unrelenting' Threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure: FBI

FBI Director Christopher Wray on 18 April warned national security and intelligence experts, as well as students, that risks the government of China poses to U.S. national and economic security are “upon us now”—and that U.S. critical infrastructure is a prime target. 

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist,” he said in remarks at the Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats in Nashville. 

But he suggested that partnerships with both the private sector and academia can be powerful tools in the quest to neutralize this threat. 

Understanding the Threat 
The overall threat from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a hybrid one that involves crime, counterintelligence, and cybersecurity—and which the FBI is countering with resources from all three missional spheres, Wray said. 

The threat is partially “driven by the CCP’s aspirations to wealth and power,” Wray said, adding that China wants to “seize economic development in the areas most critical to tomorrow’s economy,” even if doing so requires theft. The Chinese government has tried to pilfer “intellectual property, technology, and research” from nearly every industry in the U.S. economy, he noted. 

But the CCP also wants to prevent the United States from being able to get in the way of a potential future “crisis between China and Taiwan by 2027,” he said. Americans are starting to feel the effects of this sprint, he said, pointing to “cyber intrusions and criminal activity” as early deterrence efforts by the CCP.  

Budgets currently being crafted will determine what resources the U.S. government will have available to fight back three years from now. “In the private sector and academia, too, the investments, partnerships, security, and capabilities you’re building today will dictate how those sectors are prepared—or not—three short years from now,” he added. 

Protecting Critical Infrastructure 
The FBI worries what this sprint means for our country’s critical infrastructure, since “these vital sectors—everything from water treatment facilities and energy grids to transportation and information technology—form the backbone of our society.”