UNDER GOV. BILL WALKER, ALASKA WAS AN EASY TARGET
In November of 2017, then-Alaska Gov. Bill Walker signed a major deal with Chinese government-owned companies to build a gasline across Alaska. A new report shows that, if he had succeeded in partnering with the communist government companies, he could have put the entire nation at risk. The Alaska LNG project included eight compressor stations along the 804-mile route from Prudhoe Bay to the liquefaction plant in Nikiski, the entire project built in collaboration with China.
A major report by The Washington Post says the Chinese military has already broken into the computers of one unnamed oil and gas pipeline in the U.S. The Chinese are probing many smaller energy entities to test vulnerabilities and have vastly improved in their ability to disrupt American infrastructure. The report says it’s likely that Chinese hackers are already inside the computers that run America’s infrastructure, and may be just laying in wait until given the order to act.
The Chinese have infiltrated power and water utilities in America, as well as communications and transportation systems. They have invaded a water utility’s computers in Hawaii, and those at a major West Coast port, people familiar with the incidents told The Washington Post in a story headlined, “China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services.”
The hackers, affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army, made an attempted incursion into the systems of Texas’s power grid, which operates independently from the major electrical systems in the country, and which covers the state that produces the most oil for America — 42.4% of American oil comes from Texas.
The newspaper’s report comes at a time when Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan has been raising concerns about China and companies in the United States that are investing in China’s government-owned businesses engaged in advanced technology that can be used against America.
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sullivan took to the Senate floor to ask House Speaker Mike Johnson to ensure legislation moves to a vote before the end of January that, at a minimum, would require U.S. firms to report foreign investments that could pose a threat to American national security.
“We have American financial companies that are investing in Chinese Communist Party companies and are producing things like advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and hypersonics– all technologies that are critical to dominating the 21st century battlefield,” Sullivan said.
“This is a giant American national security issue. . . Right now, we have Republican House Members—hopefully not the Speaker, but certainly the chairman of the Financial Services Committee—who are saying: No, I want to keep it in the dark, what Americans [firms] are doing to make [Chairman Xi Jinping] stronger. That is wrong. Mr. President, 99.9 percent of Americans would think that is wrong. So we need to fix it. The House needs to take leadership on this issue. My Republican colleagues keep talking tough on China. It is time to act.”
In a related development, Duke Energy, a large U.S. utility company with 8.2 million customers, last week said it had disconnected large batteries from Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina because of the Chinese battery maker’s close links with the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have been raising concerns about the potential security threats posed by the batteries, which may have the capacity to take down electrical grids.
Over the past year, the Chinese hackers have infiltrated computer systems in dozens of critical U.S. entities, the sources told the newspaper, with a goal of creating widespread panic and chaos, and to snarl logistics if there is a confrontation between the U.S. and China in the Pacific, especially if there is a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“The recent cyber intrusions seem to be part of a broader military initiative named ‘Volt Typhoon,’ the newspaper reported.
The communist Chinese strategy has changed over the past decade, according to Brandon Wales, the executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
While a decade ago, computer break-ins were focused on political and economic espionage, today the Chinese are attempting to compromise critical infrastructure, “in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict, to either prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside the United States — to affect our decision-making around a crisis.”
The Chinese have zeroed in on Hawaii as an area for their concentrated interest, as it is the home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and a logistics hub for military operations. According to the report, Microsoft revealed that Volt Typhoon activities were also targeting entities in Guam, another hub for the U.S. Navy.
Biden had a meeting with China’s head of state Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 in Woodside, Calif., but he did not bring up the matter.
“The topic of Chinese cyber intrusions into critical infrastructure was on a proposed list of talking points to raise in Biden’s encounter with Xi, according to people familiar with the matter, but it did not come up in the four-hour meeting,” the Post reported.
The White House readout of the Biden-Xi meeting is at this link, with a list of the topics the two leaders reportedly discussed.
Nearly six years ago, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker signed a deal with the Chinese government-owned Sinopec, the Bank of China, and China Investment Corporation to build a gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Nikiski, with processing plants on the North Slope and also at tidewater. The gas would be loaded onto ships and taken to China, Korea, and other customers in the Pacific. China was to be entitled to 75% of the gas.
That deal was tabled when Mike Dunleavy became governor in 2018.
Sen. Sullivan, who has long been sounding the alarm over China, was not shy about confronting U.S. companies that are investing in the Chinese Communist Party’s cyber war initiatives.
“We have, who knows, a lot of financial institutions investing in Chinese companies to make their military stronger. We have financial companies that are investing in the Chinese Communist Party, companies that are producing things like advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonics–all technologies that are critical to dominating the 21st century battlefield. This is a giant American national security issue,” Sullivan said.
“I don’t normally come down to the Senate floor and quote Lenin. I am not a big fan of Lenin. But he purportedly said that ‘capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them,'” Sullivan continued. “There is a little bit of that going on right now here in the United States of America. We have executives in this country and certain financial institutions–by the way, these American financial institutions and executives owe everything to their success by being American, being in the greatest country in the world, with the rule of law and our capital markets and our dynamic economy. Their success is because of the great Nation we live in, and yet some, kind of addicted to making more money–listen to Lenin. They are like, you know, maybe I will do that advanced chip manufacturing investment in the Chinese economy; maybe I will help them a little bit with artificial intelligence or quantum computing,” Sullivan said. Sen. Sullivan’s complete remarks are at this link.
The Washington Post story about the China cyber threat is at this link.
They didn’t infiltrate,we opened the door.
Thank you, Sen Sullivan for exposing our REAL enemy.. many people have not been REALIZING the dangers that we have exposed ourselves to by so “friendly?” with our enemies. Many people throughout the US have recognized it, but not exposing it without being labeled and charged with treason.
History repeats itself. Will we have another Pearl Harbor moment? We just had another “holocaust” moment on October 7th. God help us.
Considering FDR moved the main fleet away from Hawaii to prime attack from the Japanese, I wouldn’t put anything past our government
Yeah screw it, sacrifice the battleships.
And he is just waking up and sounding the alarm?. Which many have known for many years ???
You’re kidding, right, Ev? Sen. Dan Sullivan talks on this subject of China almost weekly. You might try paying attention. Here’s a few recent ones from the last three weeks. Check more out at his web page: https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases and just try for once to not spout before you think….
ICYMI: Sullivan Presses for Greater Taiwan Military Aid in Supplemental, Preemptive Sanctions to Deter a CCP Invasion
Sullivan, Colleagues Demand EPA Repeal Rule Increasing U.S. Dependence on China-Produced Electric Vehicles
Sullivan, Cardin, Titus & Buchanan Aim to Deepen US-Mongolia Trade, Thwart CCP Interests
Sullivan, Gallagher, Colleagues Press for NDAA Language to Better Prevent China From Acquiring Sensitive U.S. Technologies
It is still all talk with little happening to stop them from destroying us from within. There are many Congressmen and Senators in bed with the CCP. How long has Sullivan been in office now? What has he actually accomplished to prevent the CCP from infiltrating our government, universities and Technology Sector? Why hasn’t Hillary Clinton been arrested for feeding the CCP our technology secrets through her unprotected server that was at her residence? Why did he not stop the trade imbalance that China had over us? Did he support Trumps’s trade tariffs on China? Does he support sanctions on China and banning them from purchasing companies and Real Estate in the USA? China uses “unrestricted warfare” on us daily and helped release a bioweapon on the world. Why in the hell do we even talk to them? Kick them out of our country and punish them economically until they say uncle. Oh wait, we can’t because they own us. We indebted ourselves to them due to reckless spending and the enormous debt people like Murkowski and Sullivan helped create. You people really need to wake up. We need people in government that are not politicians and respect the Constitution. NO MORE RINOS!
All I can say is…no duh.
It’s not just the hackers that are here. We’ve had thousands of Chinese nationalists (some uniformed) cross our open southern border. They can now attack us on a cyber and physical level. Sullivan might be a little late to the party.
Are PFD monies invested in any Chinese companies? What percentage of PFD investments are with American companies and in other countries’ companies? Everyone wants Alaska’s $60 billion in PFD corpus. Thanks
Bill Clinton opened the door for them a long time ago .
Never trust the commie chinese, just like u should never trust liberals… They have betrayed and sold this country out… Solution? Civil war, it’s the only way, but that will never happen due to Americans becoming sheep… Oh how our WW2 vets and forefathers hate us now… they have u freedom and u gave it away to commies and totalitarians… u weak minded sheeple should be deported from this country
We Patriots will NOT go gently into the good night!!! If the Communist Left wants to take over, I can guarantee they will be met with a fierce resistance! Trump 2024
🇺🇸🇮🇱
What makes you think that we haven’t likewise infiltrated all the CCP computer systems? Managed to get Iran’s via Stuxnet a decade or so ago. I expect CCP is on the target list. Think of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) with electrons rather than nukes and you’ll be close. Cheers –
it is unconstitutional therefore illegal, group activity. American public servants do not have authority to squander or dissipate the inheritance of liberty and pursuit of happiness for their own American children to foreign interests. Secure and defend the US Constitution from all opposed to personal liberty especially when bound by oath and receiving a stipend from public trust funds. one has no authority to impair or diminish liberty possessory rights of we the people. To do so is a mistake and I don’t consent. it is a usurpation. probably, hopeful and well-intentioned but upon review may not be constitutional.
I thought us conservatives were the danger to the libs.
Way to go China.
When is Russia coming over to “take back” Alaska? Too bad when they do. Birthright owner of Russia is in Alaska. You know. The reason why Frank reversed the Statute of Limitations on Rape. Catholic church gets busted . Then there’s old Scarecrow, I mean Sarah who shook in her boots as she resigned. I guess her domestic terrorism crimes exposed her Christian Taliban.
Oh. Then there’s Russia exhumed graves in Russia and Jerusalem. Then they start wars?
Yawn. Welp. ICC has the DNA test. Sorry 23&me it was a different outfit. But nice try. What else? Oh yeah. They have been seizing assets too. Isn’t that nice… so I wouldn’t worry about ol’ China.
But I would have Lisa get a hold of that one, before a trip to the UN blows up in their faces.
I thought the owner of Russia was in Tacoma.
Comments are closed.