House panel questions Pentagon on Chinese biotech firms – By Bryant Harris (Federal Times) / April 1, 2024
The outgoing chairman of the House’s China-focused committee and its top Democrat are asking the defense secretary to brief Congress on the Pentagon’s assessment of whether several Chinese biotechnology companies belong on a civil-military fusion list.
Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who recently announced his imminent resignation from Congress, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., sent a letter asking Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for updates on the mandatory assessment, highlighting one company’s operations in the U.S.
“The [People’s Republic of China’s] 14th five-year plan identifies dominance in biotechnology as critical to ‘strengthen [China’s] science and technological power’ and calls to deepen military-civil science and technology collaboration in the sector,” they wrote in a Friday letter to Austin. “Urgent action is needed to identify the [Chinese] biotechnology entities at the forefront of this work.”
