New Chinese Law Threatens U.S. National Security

The Chinese government will require some foreign companies with operations in the country to include a Chinese “representative” on their board of directors, the Daily Mail reported on September 9.

• The new law applies to any foreign company with more than 300 employees in China.
• It takes effect on July 1.
• The legislation means the sensitive information of Microsoft and other other American companies will be extremely hard to protect.
• Since Microsoft is the main tech supplier to the United States government, including the Pentagon, State Department and the fbi, this has major implications for America’s national security.

Having a representative who is likely in contact with the Chinese Communist Party sit in on executive meetings will provide a direct line to critical U.S. government information. The Daily Mail cited their source as saying:

Once you’re on the board, you are privy to all sorts of incredibly sensitive information, incredibly sensitive decision-making and you can exert a substantial amount of pressure on the people [who] are on the ground in China. If one day they want to exert pressure on Microsoft or any of the many other multinational companies that operate there, they know who to call. What they’re going to do is just steal all the data, every single bit of data.

Already infiltrated: Microsoft already has a reputation for being lax with security. In 2021, Chinese spies found flaws in the company’s e-mail server, which threw the door open to a spate of cyberattacks. In 2023, China hacked e-mail accounts of 22 federal organizations. Earlier this year, the Russian government hacked the e-mails of high-ranking executives.

The U.S. government has spoken about improving security, but cyber consultant Paul Rosenzweig told Wired, “There is no realistic chance that the government will wholesale cancel its contracts with Microsoft.”

China has long been able to spy on U.S. companies, steal their intellectual property, and launch cyberattacks against them. When this new law is implemented, such moves will be even easier.

Learn more: Read “America’s Achilles’ Heel—and Germany.”