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China’s Biotech Industry Poses Threat to US National Security - YouTube
Channel: Declassified with Gina Shakespeare
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Today on the show: A US report says that China's
biotech industry poses a threat to U.S. national
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security.
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We discover how and why.
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This story by Frank Feng, of The Epoch Times.
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Clinical and genetic data of U.S. citizens
obtained by Chinese biotechnology companies
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through their partnerships with U.S. institutions
could pose national security risks, and that's
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according to a newly published congressional
report.
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So what are the risks?
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Well, they stem from the “dual use of biotechnology
information."
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This is what the U.S.–China Economic and
Security Review Commission (USCC) said in
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a report published on Feb. 14.
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So, an instance of this is genetic and medical
analyses used in the biotech industry to develop
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tailored treatments for patients “could
be used for malicious purposes in the hands
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of a foreign state government, such as China.”
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In a hypothetical situation, foreign states
such as China could possibly blackmail individuals
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with the threat of exposing their embarrassing
medical information, according to the report.
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In another situation, the foreign state could
use information on health conditions, such
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as allergies, to conduct a targeted attack
against diplomats, politicians, high-ranking
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federal officials, or military leaders, to
“induce an allergic reaction or fatal injury.”
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Much like health records, genetic data could
be exploited as research about the links between
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genetic traits and personality traits, and
this is as it becomes more advanced in the
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future.
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For instance, foreign intelligence officials,
knowing in advance which individuals have
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genetic markers such as loyalty and susceptibility
to flattery, would be able to know how to
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exploit or blackmail those persons.
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So let's take a look at the size of the industry.
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China’s biotech industry has grown rapidly
in the last decade, according to the report,
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with the market now estimated at 30 to 40
billion yuan.
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Let's look at that in U.S. dollars.
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So that's $4.7 to $6.2 billion.
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Now, this is compared to the U.S. biotech
market that sits at $118 billion.
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What else does the report state?
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Well, it says:
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“As a major element of China’s biotechnology
growth, Chinese biotech companies are utilizing
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U.S. firms to acquire technologies and data
that bolster their current capabilities through
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a variety of channels."
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Some of these channels included foreign direct
investment, mergers and acquisitions, venture
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capital, corporate and academic partnerships,
and recruitment of U.S.-trained foreign and
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Chinese-born researchers.
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The report also warned, “China’s biotech
industry may have also benefited from illicit
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extraction of overseas technology through
espionage or the theft of trade secrets.”
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One example of China getting its hands on
U.S. data is highlighted in the report: via
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BGI Group, a private genome sequencing center
based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen,
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with subsidiaries including BGI Genomics,
which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange,
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and a research institute.
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So, BGI was previously known as the Beijing
Genomics Institute.
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In 2011, BGI and the University of California
Davis announced a collaboration whereby the
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Chinese company would set up a genetic sequencing
facility at the university’s Sacramento
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campus.
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That year, BGI and the Children’s Hospital
of Philadelphia also established a collaborative
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genome center.
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In 2013, BGI acquired U.S. sequencing company
Complete Genomics for $117.6 billion, that's
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according to the report.
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The report stated that: “By collecting data
across many efforts [partnerships with U.S.
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entities], BGI may be amassing a database
of genomic and healthcare data on US persons
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that is greater than that achieved through
any single research endeavor."
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While BGI is a private company, the company
has definite ties to the Chinese Communist
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Party (CCP).
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In January 2018, China’s state-run media
Xinhua reported that Du Yutao, the Party secretary
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of BGI’s research institute, spoke of the
importance of learning and putting into action
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of “the spirit behind the 19th National
Congress."
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That's referring to the Party’s once-in-five-years
leadership transition event.
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In China, companies and organizations are
required to establish Party organizations
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to ensure they toe the Party line.
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Du had spoken at the institute’s Party committee
meeting designed to discuss Chinese leader
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Xi Jinping’s speech at the 19th National
Congress held in October 2017.
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So let's take a closer look now at China's
state policy.
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So, biotech is among several tech sectors
the Chinese regime has named as a “Strategic
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Emerging Industry” in economic plans such
as “Made in China 2025” and the 13th Five-Year
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Plan.
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China unveiled “Made in China 2025” in
May 2015 which is a blueprint for transforming
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China into a high-tech powerhouse by 2025.
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Less than a year later, in March 2016, Beijing
released its thirteenth Five-Year Plan, which
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sets out to strengthen the implementation
of Made in China 2025 from 2016 to 2020.
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Biotech has also been a focus of Beijing’s
talent programs in the past few years, the
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report stated, listing several national programs
such as the Hundred Talents Program and Thousand
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Talents Program.
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Regional governments in China also run hundreds
of similar programs.
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The report stated, citing figures from a U.S.
congressional hearing that: “Out of the
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estimated 2,629 current recruits in the Thousand
Talents program as of June 2018, 44 percent
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specialize in life sciences or medicine."
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The report pointed out that the dangers lie
in China’s fundamentally different political
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system.
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That's right: “China is a Leninist-style
one-party state based on rule-by-law not rule-of-law.
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China’s economic ambitions and intentions
present challenges for more liberal economies.”
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The report recommended that the United States
adopt policies to mitigate “against economic
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and security risks posed by China’s statist
approach to innovation without stifling US
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innovation.”
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Thank you for joining me on this episode of
Declassified.
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From all of us at Declassified, thank you
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And we'll see you on our next episode, probably
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