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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) today joined fellow members of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in calling on the Biden administration not to renew the Agreement Between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Cooperation in Science and Technology (STA), which is set to expire on Aug. 27, 2023. 

“In this era of great power competition, our greatest competitor remains the Chinese Communist Party,” Rep. Wittman said. “The Biden administration has continuously failed to hold China accountable. If we do not end this agreement, we will enable the PRC to leverage it to advance their military objectives. I am proud to join my colleagues in calling on Secretary Blinken to end this national security threat and to take actionable measures to counter Beijing’s malicious agenda.”

"The PRC continues to practice military-civil fusion, seeking to leverage civilian and commercial research for military and defense purposes,” the lawmakers wrote. “The evidence available suggests that the PRC will continue to look for opportunities to exploit partnerships organized under the STA to advance its military objectives to the greatest extent possible and, in some cases, to attempt to undermine American sovereignty. The United States must stop fueling its own destruction. Letting the STA expire is a good first step."

The letter cites reports that the STA agreement could have developed technologies that would later be used against the United States. For example: 

• NOAA organized a project with China’s Meteorological Administration to launch instrumented balloons to study the atmosphere. Just a few months ago, the PRC used similar balloon technology to surveil U.S. military sites on U.S. territory. 
  
  
• Similarly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has over a dozen active research projects with PRC entities. Those projects include technologies with clear dual-use applications, such as developing techniques for analyzing satellite and drone imagery for irrigation management. 

Read the full letter here or below. 

Dear Secretary Blinken, 

We write to strongly recommend that the Administration not renew the Agreement Between the United States and the People’s Republic of China on Cooperation in Science and Technology (STA) that will expire on August 27, 2023. We are concerned that the PRC has previously leveraged the STA to advance its military objectives and will continue to do so.

Reports suggest that research partnerships organized under the STA could have developed technologies that would later be used against the United States. In 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) organized a project with China’s Meteorological Administration—under the STA—to launch instrumented balloons to study the atmosphere. As you know, a few years later, the PRC used similar balloon technology to surveil U.S. military sites on U.S. territory—a clear violation of our sovereignty.

We have also seen very concerning reports regarding collaboration in sensitive agricultural technologies. CCP Chairman Xi Jinping recently called on the PRC to boost self-reliance in agriculture technology, which he linked to national security. The U.S. and the PRC are cooperating under the STA on agriculture—the U.S. Department of Agriculture has over a dozen active research projects with PRC entities. Those projects include technologies with clear dual-use applications, such as developing techniques for analyzing satellite and drone imagery for irrigation management.

It should come as no surprise that the PRC will exploit civilian research partnerships for military purposes to the greatest extent possible. The PRC openly acknowledges its practice of military-civil fusion. According to the State Department’s website, military-civil fusion “is the elimination of barriers between the PRC’s civilian research and commercial sector, and its military and defense industrial sectors.” The PRC uses academic researchers, industrial espionage, forced technology transfers, and other tactics to gain an edge in critical technologies, which in turn fuels the People’s Liberation Army modernization. 

The PRC continues to practice military-civil fusion, seeking to leverage civilian and commercial research for military and defense purposes. The evidence available suggests that the PRC will continue to look for opportunities to exploit partnerships organized under the STA to advance its military objectives to the greatest extent possible and, in some cases, to attempt to undermine American sovereignty. The United States must stop fueling its own destruction. Letting the STA expire is a good first step. 

The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has broad authority to “investigate and submit policy recommendations on the status of the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, technological, and security progress and its competition with the United States” under H. Res. 11.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.