US Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy and Plans Robert Silvers on Friday warned of the risks that using Chinese telecommunications equipment could have on global infrastructure.
At an event hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank on the topic of cybersecurity, Silvers said he and other US officials were urging other countries to avoid using Chinese telecommunications equipment, to prevent introducing information security risks.
“It may be that the Chinese-controlled technology is the cheapest available, but it may also be that that’s not the final bill to arrive,” he said. “What happens five years, 10 years down the road when the government of the People’s Republic of Society has the ability to pull the rug out from under your entire society?”
Separately, Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, was quoted by Voice of America’s Chinese-language Web site on Saturday as saying that the US Department of Defense should assist Taiwan in dealing with cybersecurity challenges.
China would not likely attempt a military landing on Taiwan, but would instead engage in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s key infrastructure, including its power grid, water supply and other systems, he was quoted as saying.
China might also try to use cybertools to destroy Taiwan’s satellite communications, he added.
US assistance would involve researching critical infrastructure, finding vulnerabilities and devising ways to protect against them, he said.
Montgomery was one of the primary authors of a report the foundation published on Friday titled The Attack on America’s Future: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare.
The report said the US must work with allies to defend against cyberattacks by aggressive nations.
“Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure could disrupt a U.S. military mobilization in defense of Taiwan or interfere with other military operations by China’s adversaries,” the report said, citing information from James Mulvenon’s book The People’s Liberation Army in the Information Age.
The report said China aims to take control of global information and communications infrastructure.
“Altogether, China has implemented a coherent long-term strategy to control key nodes in the global economy and communications infrastructure — all at the expense of the United States and its allies,” the report said.
Ultimately, China’s aim is to “alter global dynamics to promote its interests while diminishing the influence of the United States and other free-market democracies,” it said, citing Vijay Gokhale’s Foreign Policy article “China is Gnawing at Democracy’s Roots Worldwide”.
