Amid growing concern about the risks of US companies doing business in China, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the chief executive of Google has “strongly stated” that he is “totally committed” to the US, not Chinese, military.
Earlier this month, Trump accused Google in a tweet of “helping China and their military, but not the US.”
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford said that Google’s artificial intelligence venture in China and other US companies’ business in the country indirectly benefit the Chinese military and create a challenge for the US as it seeks to maintain a competitive advantage.
Dunford’s comments reflect US worries that any information a US company has in China is available to Beijing and its military.
Trump’s tweet accusing Google of helping China came just two days after Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told US senators at a hearing that while he has not heard the tech giant say the word “refuse,” Google has expressed a “lack of willingness to support” US Department of Defense programs.
Shanahan told senators that US$5 trillion of China’s economy comprises state-owned enterprises and technology developed in the civilian world there transfers to the military sector.
“It’s a direct pipeline,” he said. “Not only is there a transfer, there’s also systemic theft of US technology that also facilitates even faster development of emerging technology.”
Trump tweeted that in a meeting on Wednesday, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai “stated strongly that he is totally committed to the U.S. Military, not the Chinese Military.”
Google issued a statement saying that Pichai had productive conversations with Trump about investing in the US workforce, emerging technologies and “our ongoing commitment to working with the US government.”
Dunford met with Pichai on Wednesday at the Pentagon at Google’s request, US Air Force Colonel Pat Ryder said.
While the details of their conversation are private, Ryder confirmed that Dunford shared his concerns about US tech firms working in China and the potential impact on the US’ ability to maintain a competitive military advantage due to intellectual property being indirectly shared with the Chinese military.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese