House Lawmakers Urge Defense Secretary Austin to Add Chinese Biotech Firms to Military List

The top Republican and the Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are calling on the Biden administration to add seven Chinese biotech firms to a Pentagon list of “Chinese military companies.” In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on March 29, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said the seven firms are likely contributors to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) under China’s military-civil fusion (MCF) strategy. The seven Chinese biotech companies are MGI Group, Complete Genomics, Innomics, STOmics, Origincell, Yazyme Biotech, and Axbio. The CCP aims to acquire cutting-edge technologies, including semiconductors and artificial intelligence, via the strategy. According to the State Department, China is implementing the strategy through “licit and illicit means,” such as theft, to achieve military dominance. Private companies, joint research institutes, and academia are “being exploited” to help the CCP’s military advance, often “without their knowledge or consent,” the department warns....