U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, "Hearing: China’s Propaganda and Influence Operations, Its Intelligence Activities that Target the United States, and the Resulting Impacts on U.S. National Security," April 30, 2009

April 30, 2009
Room 485 Russell Senate Office Building
Delaware and Constitution Avenues, NE
Washington, DC 20510

Hearing Co-Chairs: Commissioners William A. Reinsch and Peter Brookes

Opening Statement of Commissioner William A. Reinsch

Good morning, everyone. On behalf of our Chairwoman for this year, Ms. Carolyn Bartholomew, our Vice-Chairman, Dr. Larry Wortzel, and all of the other members of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, I would like to welcome you to this hearing, the fourth hearing held by the Commission this year to examine issues related to our statutory mandate from Congress. Today’s hearing will examine issues related to the Chinese government’s propaganda directed at foreign audiences, its alleged efforts to exert influence over U.S. institutions and U.S. public opinion, and its espionage and cyber-espionage activities directed against the United States.

Many issues related to these topics have been significant points of controversy in recent years. For example, are the reported plans of the Chinese government to substantially increase its news coverage and publicity efforts directed at foreign audiences a cause for any concern in the United States, or do these efforts represent benign public diplomacy efforts of the type used by nearly all governments? Does the Chinese government seek undue influence over academics and other shapers of opinion in the United States by the employment of personal pressure? What is the extent to which Chinese intelligence operations target controlled technologies and restricted information, and to what extent do such efforts affect U.S. national security and our future economic competiveness? It is our hope that this hearing will help to shed more light on some of these debates, and help to better inform the Commission as we prepare our annual report to Congress to be released later this year.

We are joined today by a number of expert witnesses who will help us further explore these issues. They include esteemed academic authorities on Chinese politics and propaganda, national security experts from the defense consulting community, a retired agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and expert researchers in the field of cyber security. We welcome their presence with us today, and we look forward to hearing their views on these controversial issues.

With that, I’ll turn the floor over to my colleague and co-chair for this hearing, Commissioner Peter Brookes.

Opening Statement of Commissioner Peter Brookes

Thanks for that introduction, Bill. Good morning, everyone. The topics of today’s hearing have been made all the more relevant and timely by a series of recent media revelations related to the Chinese government’s employment of propaganda, espionage, and cyber espionage in its relations with the United States. Earlier this year, media reports emerged that the Chinese government plans to spend an estimated 45 billion renminbi, or approximately 6.6 billion U.S. dollars, to upgrade its foreign language news coverage, to include plans for a 24-hour English-language news network that would present world affairs from the viewpoint of Beijing. While it is the right of every government to seek to peacefully promote its views to international audiences, it is also prudent to examine the effects that such increased propaganda efforts could have on U.S.-China relations.

Even more striking, however, and of greater concern, have been recent revelations of alleged Chinese espionage within the United States. In just one such example among many others, earlier this month the owner of a firm in Newport News, Virginia was sentenced for illegally exporting to China technical data related to systems components for space launch vehicles. This has been followed by alleged hacker penetrations into defense contractor computer systems related to development of the F-35 fighter aircraft, as well as alleged probes of the computer networks that control electrical grids within the United States. While public identification of the hackers in these instances has not been conclusive, the electronic trails in both instances have reportedly led back to China. Whether coming in human or electronic form, such espionage is of serious concern to both the national security and the future economic security of our country, and we at the Commission hope that our efforts this year will help to further clarify these complex issues for both the Congress and the broader public.

With that, I’ll turn the floor over to our first witnesses. Our first panel will deal with “China’s External Propaganda Efforts,” and our first speaker will be Dr. Nicholas Cull of the University of Southern California...

Commissioners’ Opening Statements
Opening Statement of Commissioner William A. Reinsch
Opening Statement of Commissioner Peter Brookes

Panel I: China’s External Propaganda Efforts
Dr. Nicholas Cull, Professor of Communications, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Judy Polumbaum, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Dr. Anne-Marie Brady, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Panel II: China’s Efforts to Exert Influence on U.S. Institutions and Public Opinion
Dr. Ross Terrill, Associate in Research, John K. Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Dr. Eric Anderson, Senior Analyst, SAIC, McLean, VA
Dr. Jacqueline Newmyer, President and CEO, Long Term Strategy Group, Cambridge, MA

Panel III: China’s Espionage and Intelligence Operations Directed at the United States
Mr. I.C. Smith, Special Agent (retired), Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC
Dr. James Mulvenon, Director, Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, Defense Group Inc., Washington, DC

Panel IV: China’s Cyber Espionage Directed against the United States
Mr. Kevin G. Coleman, Senior Fellow, Technolytics, McMurray, PA
Mr. Rafal A. Rohozinski, Principal and CEO, The SecDev Group and Advisory Board Member at The Citizen Lab, Munk Center for International Studies, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada