US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

1. Esper Makes Case That China is a
Growing Threat to Europe
F E B . 1 5 , 2 0 2 0 | B Y D AV I D V E R G U N , D O D N E W S
N E W S PA R T N E R S H I P S
In Europe, there is a focus on the threat from Russia. However, there is also a
threat from China, the Pentagon's number one concern, said Defense
Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper.
"America's concerns about Beijing's commercial and military expansion should be
[Europe's] concerns as well," Esper said, during his remarks at the Munich Security
Conference in Germany today.
The Communist Party and its associated organizations, including the People's
Liberation Army, are increasingly operating in theaters outside its borders, including
Europe, and seeking advantage by any means, and at any cost, he said.

2. China is currently applying economic and political pressure publicly and privately on
many Indo-Paci c region and European nations, to seek new strategic relationships,
he said.
The Belt and Road Initiative is one such example where it uses overseas investments
to force other nations into making suboptimal security decisions, the secretary noted.
This has wide-ranging implications for the U.S. and allies in areas such as data security
and military interoperability.
Another example is China's telecommunication rm Huawei, which has developed
and is exporting 5G networks "that could render our partners' critical systems
vulnerable to disruption, manipulation and espionage," Esper said.

3. "To counter this, we are encouraging allied and U.S. tech companies to develop
alternative 5G solutions, and we are working alongside them to test these
technologies at our military bases as we speak," the secretary said.
"In the long run, developing our own secure 5G networks will far outweigh any
perceived gains from partnering with heavily subsidized Chinese providers that
ultimately answer to party leadership" he continued.
Esper said China's President Xi Jinping is leading his nation even faster in the wrong
direction: more internal repression, more predatory economic practices, more heavy-
handedness and a more aggressive military posture.
The international community needs to be aware of the challenges presented by
China's manipulation of the longstanding international rules-based order that has
bene ted the world for many decades, he said.

4. Beijing said that by 2035, it intends to complete its military modernization and by
2049, it intends to dominate Asia as the preeminent global military power, Esper said.
Over time, the Chinese have seized and militarized islands in the South China Sea,
rapidly modernized its armed forces, while seeking to use emerging technology to
alter world power in its favor, he said.
Party leadership continues its rampant technology theft, while resolving to eventually
end its reliance on foreign innovation altogether, then independently develop its own
systems, in an effort to dominate critical sectors and markets, he said.
Beijing is using arti cial intelligence and other technologies to surveil and to repress
many of its own people. Also, China is exporting those technologies to other
authoritarian regimes, the secretary said.
For its part, DOD is investing in cutting edge technology to modernize its force and
building stronger relationships with allies and partners. Examples, he said, are
hypersonics, autonomous systems and arti cial intelligence. The goal of developing
these weapons is to protect the sovereignty of all freedom-loving countries.
While China is weaponizing the space domain through the development of directed-
energy weapons and killer satellites, the Pentagon is standing up its rst new military
service in over 70 years — the U.S. Space Force — to ensure freedom of use,
commerce and navigation in, to, and through space, for all, Esper said.
The world is too interconnected for us not to work together to solve some of
our toughest problems."
Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper~

6. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of China's admission into the World Trade
Organization, "a decision that fundamentally altered the course of international
affairs," he said.
The thinking at the time was that China's admission into the WTO and other
multilateral institutions would result in China's continued path to economic reform
and eventually become a responsible global and political stakeholder, and possibly an
eventual democracy, he mentioned.
Skeptics, however, warned that China would reap the bene ts of free trade to acquire
technologies to build a strong military and security state capable of expanding the
reach of its authoritarian rule, he said.
"These are both credible arguments but we all know which one is winning right now,"
he said.

7. Having said that, the U.S. doesn't seek con ict with China, he said. "In fact, we look for
areas of cooperation where our interests converge."
For example, Esper said the U.S. delivered 18 tons of medical supplies to China and
provided other assistance to help ght COVID19, the coronavirus. "The world is too
interconnected for us not to work together to solve some of our toughest problems."
The world is increasingly becoming aware of China's motives and is responding in
turn, he said.
To be a responsible partner in the international community, China must be
transparent and respect the sovereignty, freedom and rights of all nations, he said.
Related Video: Defense Secretary Attends International Security Conference

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Related Speech: As Prepared Remarks by Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper at the
Munich Security Conference