Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has defiantly declared that technological innovation is the “main battlefield” in China’s quest for global preeminence. But Beijing’s bold bid to transform itself into a global science superpower is not merely an economic imperative—it is a means to strengthen China’s military might and cyber capabilities, with grave implications for the United States.
Here at home, Beijing’s strategy is unfolding in three interlocking phases—penetrating, prepositioning, and profiting—which together form an insidious framework that both erodes the United States’ technological edge and undermines homeland security.
Collectively, these campaigns reveal how Chinese hackers methodically exploit software and hardware weaknesses to harvest critical intelligence and maintain enduring access to sensitive U.S. networks, often with next to no consequences. Yet infiltration is not an end in itself. Once inside, Beijing systematically prepositions latent capabilities throughout our physical and digital supply chains, setting the stage for future coercion.
In a conflict—or even a severe diplomatic crisis—these systemic dependencies could confer a decisive advantage to China. By withholding critical parts or inflating prices at a pivotal moment, Beijing can exploit these supply chain choke points to hamper U.S. readiness.
Prepositioned exploits could degrade or disable U.S. command-and-control systems, sabotage energy grids, or paralyze transportation networks—potentially stalling the United States’ response before a single shot is fired. Even if such disruptions remain hypothetical, the mere suspicion of sabotage can erode policymaker confidence and delay military mobilization efforts, effectively handing Beijing a silent veto over our crisis decision-making.
The final phase of Beijing’s strategy is profiting from these dependencies, turning commercial dominance into a revenue stream that reinforces its military-civil fusion. Chinese high-tech exports, ranging from advanced sensors and biotech innovations to drones and surveillance cameras, generate billions in revenue every year for Beijing. These profits are not reinvested merely for commercial growth; they are often funneled directly into programs bolstering the People’s Liberation Army’s research and development efforts.
Policymakers can begin by tightening outbound investment screening and export controls. That means scrutinizing U.S. capital and technology flows into Chinese firms linked to China’s military-industrial base, ensuring that American money and know-how no longer subsidize Beijing’s military modernization. Simultaneously, federal agencies should adopt “clean network” standards for software, hardware, and data, effectively establishing cyber quarantines for critical infrastructure. This would bar high-risk Chinese devices from power grids, ports, and telecommunications systems—treating them as inherently untrusted until proven otherwise.
Equally important is imposing meaningful consequences on Beijing’s cyber intrusions. Diplomatic protests and token indictments of mid-level hackers have failed to alter China’s calculus. Instead, Washington should consider stronger penalties—including financial blacklisting of major Chinese firms or banks—to send an unmistakable message that continued infiltration carries real costs.
Finally, we must commit to robust innovation at home. The United States can’t meet the Chinese challenge simply by playing defense. Expanding federal research and development, incentivizing private-sector breakthroughs, and aligning workforce development with future technology needs will ensure that the United States remains a leader in the very fields—biotech, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, energy storage—where China seeks supremacy.
Xi’s “main battlefield” is already upon us, and the United States can no longer afford complacency. China’s triple threat—penetrating, prepositioning, and profiting—targets the core of our national resilience. If we fail to respond decisively, we risk losing our technological edge and compromising our security. By fortifying our networks, enforcing meaningful consequences on malicious actors, and investing in American innovation, we can ensure that Xi’s ambitions do not come at the expense of our prosperity and safety.