WASHINGTON
—
Congress
should
set
in
motion
a
sweeping
initiative
to
ensure
that
the
United
States
can
stay
ahead
of
China’s
rapid
development
of
dual-use
quantum
technologies
and
artificial
intelligence,
urges
the
US-China
Economic
and
Security
Review
Commission
in
its
latest
annual
report.
“Whoever
leads
in
quantum
(and
artificial
intelligence)
will
control
the
encryption
of
the
digital
economy;
enable
breakthroughs
in
materials,
energy,
and
medicine;
and
gain
asymmetric
and
likely
persistent
advantage
in
intelligence
and
targeting,”
the
commission’s
2025
report,
presented
to
Congress
today,
says.
“It
is
imperative
that
the
United
States
treat
quantum
not
as
a
research
silo
but
as
a
mission-critical
national
capability—and
act
accordingly,”
the
report
adds.
The
commission’s
2025
report
finds
that
China
is
continuing
to
“pour
significant
resources
into
over-the-horizon
technologies
such
as
artificial
intelligence
and
quantum
computing
that
have
dual-use
purposes
and
could
accelerate
China’s
military
and
intelligence
capabilities.”
Thus,
the
group
recommends
that
lawmakers
establish
by
2030
a
“quantum
first”
goal
to
“focus
on
quantum
computational
advantage
in
three
mission-critical
domains—cryptography,
drug
discovery,
and
materials
science.”
The
commission
argues
that
the
2030
timeline
“is
essential
to
ensure
the
United
States
achieves
quantum
leadership
before
any
adversary
can
leverage
these
capabilities
against
American
interests.”
In
tandem,
Congress
should
provide
“significant
funding”
for
US
quantum
development,
“focused
on
scalable
quantum
computing
modalities,
secure
communications,
and
post-quantum
cryptography,”
as
well
as
to
new
“workforce
development”
programs.
This
includes
the
creation
of
a
“Quantum
Software
Engineering
Institute
(QSEI)
focused
on
developing
the
software
foundations
for
scalable,
secure,
and
interoperable
quantum
computing,”
modeled
on
the
National
Artificial
Intelligence
Research
Institutes
and
National
Manufacturing
Institutes.
“[T]he
QSEI
would
ensure
that
U.S.
quantum
hardware
is
matched
by
world-class
software
capabilities,
enabling
early
operational
advantage
across
science,
industry,
and
defense,”
the
report
says.
The
bipartisan
US-China
Commission
was
established
by
Congress
in
2000
to
“investigate,
and
report
to
Congress
on
the
national
security
implications
of
the
bilateral
trade
and
economic
relationship
between
the
United
States
and
the
People’s
Republic
of
China,”
according
to
the
commission
website.
Stronger
Export
Controls,
Congressional
Oversight
More
broadly,
the
US-China
Commission
is
calling
for
series
of
measures
to
substantially
beef
up
US
export
controls
on
key
technologies,
such
as
semiconductors.
The
report’s
number
one
recommendation
is
that
Congress
mandate
a
new,
interagency
organization
to
“address
the
evolving
national
security
challenges”
being
created
by
China’s
“systematic
and
persistent
evasion”
of
US
export
controls
and
sanctions.
This
“unified
economic
statecraft
entity”
should
at
a
minimum
include:
the
Commerce
Department’s
Bureau
of
Industry
and
Security
(BIS),
the
Treasury
Department’s
Office
of
Foreign
Assets
Control,
the
Office
of
Export
Control
Cooperation
at
the
State
Department’s
Bureau
of
International
Security
and
Nonproliferation,
and
the
Defense
Department’s
Defense
Technology
Security
Administration,
the
report
elaborates.
Further,
it
should
be
tightly
integrated
with
the
Intelligence
Community
to
allow
“enhanced
access
to
real-time
intelligence
on
evasion
networks.”
“[T]his
is
not
something
that
we’d
snap
our
fingers
and
all
of
a
sudden
have
an
entity
ready
to
go
in
in
trade
negotiations
with
the
current
administration.
It’s
something
that’s
going
to
take
time
to
implement
and
to
integrate,”
explained
Commissioner
Leland
Miller,
who
is
the
CEO
of
the
China
Beige
Book
that
provides
data
on
the
Chinese
economy
to
companies
and
investors.
“The
idea,
though,
is
that
the
piecemeal
approach
to
economic
sanctions
and
to
export
controls
has
meant
that
there
hasn’t
been
coordination.
…
[D]ifferent
agencies
have
sort
of
prioritized
and
and
operated
separately,”
he
told
reporters
on
Monday.
“So,
I
think
one
of
the
reasons
that
we
have
pushed
on
this,
and
have
elevated
this
to
our
top
recommendation,
is
that
there
is
a
need
at
this
point
for
these
really
important
national
security
priorities
to
be
put
forward
as
more
than
a
throw
in
in
a
trade
negotiation.”
In
addition,
the
commission
urges
lawmakers
to
strengthen
the
ability
of
BIS
“to
manage
strategic
competition
with
China
in
fast-moving
technology
sectors,
such
as
leading-edge
semiconductors
used
in
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
applications,
and
increase
congressional
oversight.”
This
includes
two
key
changes
to
US
export
controls
on
AI-enabling
chips.
First,
Congress
should
direct
BIS
to
change
the
“presumption
of
denial”
for
licenses
to
export
to
China
those
microchips
now
on
Commerce’s
export
control
list
to
a
more
stringent
“policy
of
denial”
—
meaning
that
exports
of
certain
chips
would
be
barred
if
deemed
potentially
harmful
to
US
national
security.
The
second
change
would
call
for
Congress
to
force
BIS
to
set
up
a
system
to
“rent”
rather
than
sell
“advanced
chips”
by
“mandating
that
any
advanced
chips
above
a
certain
threshold
that
are
not
designated
as
prohibited
for
export
be
accessible
exclusively
via
the
cloud.”
Under
the
new
system,
exporters
would
be
required
as
part
of
their
licenses
to
vet
their
customers
and
report
any
“suspicious”
activities.
Space
Over
the
past
few
years
the
commission
has
outsourced
reports
on
China’s
rapidly
expanding
space
capabilities,
and
the
new
report
doubles
down
on
those
concerns.
“China
is
pursuing
an
aggressive
long-term,
whole-of-government
campaign
to
expand
its
space
capabilities
across
military,
commercial,
and
civil
domains
with
the
explicit
intent
of
surpassing
the
United
States.
These
rapid
advances
in
space
pose
an
escalating
threat
to
U.S.
national
security,
intensify
U.S.-China
strategic
competition
for
international
partnerships,
and
undermine
the
ability
of
U.S.
commercial
firms
to
compete
internationally,”
the
report
finds.
In
the
military
arena,
the
report
focuses
in
on
the
PLA’s
pursuit
of
counterspace
capabilities
designed
to
“degrade,
damage,
or
destroy”
US
satellites
“that
provide
the
backbone”
the
military’s
command
and
control
network
and
targeting
systems.
The
commissioners
stress
that
over
the
past
decade
China
has
maintained
an
“aggressive
schedule”
of
satellite
launches
for
its
own
military
use,
as
well
as
strengthen
its
ability
to
keep
tabs
on,
and
in
the
case
of
conflict
target,
US
forces,
especially
those
in
the
Indo-Pacific.
“Beijing’s
investment
in
counterspace
systems
—
including
direct-ascent
anti-satellite
weapons
and
co-orbital
interference
platforms
—
illustrates
its
strategy
of
blinding
and
disorienting
U.S.
forces
in
the
opening
phase
of
a
conflict,”
the
report
states.
The
commissioners
thus
recommend
that
Congress
take
actions
“to
preserve
and
strengthen
U.S.
primacy
in
the
critical
space
domain
as
China
pursues
sweeping
advancements
across
military,
commercial,
and
civil
space
sectors.”
These
include
moving
to
“increase
or
reallocate
appropriations”
for
the
Space
Force
“to
levels
necessary
to
achieve
space
control
and
establish
space
superiority
against
China’s
rapidly
expanding
space
and
counterspace
capabilities.”
Lawmakers
also
should
“direct”
DoD
to
improve
the
Space
Force’s
capacity
for
wargaming,
modeling,
simulation
and
training.
In
addition,
the
report
urges
Congress
to
hold
oversight
hearings
designed
“to
ensure
the
United
States
maintains
primacy
in
the
space
domain
by
identifying
investments
in
cutting-edge
space
technologies
and
assessing
China’s
space
capabilities
and
threats
to
U.S.
space
industrial
base
capacity.”