Chinese technology spies are stealing classified information from United States universities, security experts testified before Congress on Wednesday. They warned that Chinese researchers and students are passing on artificial intelligence, robotics and other cutting-edge technologies to their homeland.

“China has a government-directed, multifaceted secret program whose primary task is technology acquisition, as well as a highly refined strategy to develop and exploit access to advantageous information through the global telecommunications infrastructure,” said former national counterintelligence executive Michelle Van Cleave.

The Chinese government is stealing technology for both military and commercial use. The goal is to speed up China’s military modernization and give China insight into the weaknesses of U.S. weapons systems.

“In the case of robotics and AI, two fields of study with the potential to fundamentally change the international economy as well as the future of war-fighting, China has released the Robotics Industry Development Plan and Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan with the goals of China assuming global leadership in the coming decades,” said Michael Wessel, chairman of the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission.

To accomplish its large-scale technology theft, China is using some of the 350,000 Chinese students in the U.S. for intelligence work.

An electrical engineering professor at the University of Tennessee was convicted of collaborating with some of his Chinese students to send classified defense technology to the Chinese government in 2008. The U.S. Department of Justice charged six Chinese nationals with passing technology secrets from Avago Technologies Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc. on to China in 2015. Such information has helped China establish multibillion-dollar companies like Kuang-Chi Science Ltd., which develop telecommunication, aerospace and AI technologies.

To stop China from stealing classified information, Van Cleave recommends the U.S. go on the offensive against foreign spies. She laments the fact that former President Barack Obama weakened counterintelligence efforts by dividing America’s counterspy program into individual departments.

Van Cleave continued: “The national head of counterintelligence was rebranded director of a security and CI center, his duties further dissipated by the fixation on leaks and insider threats driven by the grievous harm done by Snowden, Manning, et al.” She was referring to whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning.

China continues to use agents, front companies and joint research ventures to steal American technology. These espionage activities are helping to undermine U.S. economic and military superiority.

In his book The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, American defense policy adviser Michael Pillsbury recounts how he first came across a strategy referred to as “assassin’s mace.” He read an article by three of China’s preeminent military strategists that discussed new technologies that might allow China to defeat America by using technology as a secret weapon. The article called for the development of tactical laser weapons to be used in antiship missile defense systems, electromagnetic pulse weapons, radar-jamming technology and cyberweapons.

Maj. Gen. Li Zhiyun, the director of foreign military studies at China’s National Defense University, published an anthology of the works of 64 Chinese military authors. The anthology details a long list of U.S. military weaknesses vulnerable to exploitation by “assassin’s mace” technologies. The most prominent weaknesses listed are America’s overreliance on high-tech computer systems, satellite technology, and long maritime supply lines.

There are now 25,000 Chinese intelligence officers working for Beijing’s spy networks in the United States. This is according to a Chinese dissident with close ties to the Chinese government. Stealing American technology is a major way China plans to develop its military to a point where it could challenge the U.S.

Many Americans assume that their country will be the world superpower for the foreseeable future. Yet there is a sobering prophecy in the Bible that America’s military strength will be cut off when it reaches the zenith of its power.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities” (Micah 5:10-14).

This passage describes the military downfall of end-time Israel (the Americans, the British, the Jews and other related peoples). When end-time Israel reaches the zenith of its power, God cuts off its armaments of war and throws down its strongholds. He breaks the pride of its power. Why? Because the people have turned away from Him to embrace “witchcraft” and “soothsayers.” This means the people look to false teachers who refuse to teach God’s commands. They promote lawlessness and moral relativism. They endorse sins like abortion, adultery, drug abuse, homosexuality, lying and sexual promiscuity. They indulge in shallow religions, false doctrines and even literal witchcraft.

Espionage is a major way America’s military strongholds could be thrown down. China’s military is already on par with the U.S. in East Asia. This means America’s military bases that protect vital trade routes are becoming vulnerable. The only real solution to this crisis is to turn back to the one source that gave America its power: Almighty God.