China will exploit dominance to create supply chain vulnerabilities and disruptions.

In addition to semiconductor production, China has invested substantially in artificial intelligence and its telecommunications infrastructure. This combination of data from the country’s global roll out of 5G and unprecedented processing capability will provide the Chinese government with unrivaled power to influence governments and control societies. [5] These capabilities also make it easier for Chinese agents to access proprietary and confidential information, posing a threat to supply chains as American businesses engage in commerce globally. The current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, has sounded the alarm on this issue, describing the scale of Chinese intellectual property theft as “the largest transfers of wealth in human history.”[6] Chinese development of artificial intelligence capabilities with 5G will exacerbate supply chain vulnerabilities, enabling greater technology theft and exposing data on materiel used in the production of U.S. and NATO weapons systems. This infiltration into supply chains that support military requirements is not theoretical. In 2018, the Department of Defense published a report “Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States,” which found that the majority of counterfeit electronics came from China and create vulnerabilities in American defense systems.[7] In 2019, the U.S. Justice Department uncovered and prosecuted cases involving Chinese-made cameras and surveillance equipment found on American military installations.[8] The presence of these electronics shows how military supply chains may be compromised. Even with fifth generation aircraft, autonomous naval vessels, or next generation squad weapons, Chinese exploitation of supply chain vulnerabilities may jeopardize U.S. Military capabilities by diminishing the readiness and potential production of these weapons systems.