The Chinese regime and Russia are accelerating secret efforts to weaken the United States through deadly fentanyl, hacking, and intrusions on critical infrastructure such as ports, water, and electric utilities.
One of the most damaging efforts so far is Beijing’s support for illegal fentanyl exports to the United States, which kills over 200 Americans daily. New evidence found on China’s websites, and later scrubbed, shows that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is purposefully subsidizing the export of fentanyl precursors that are illegal in both China and the United States. The precursors have no other purpose but to produce illegal drugs. This CCP campaign is arguably a form of genocide against U.S. citizens.
The House Committee on the CCP released a report on April 16 showing that China produces almost all illegal fentanyl precursors, subsidizes fentanyl precursor production, and instead of cooperating with U.S. counternarcotics authorities when it receives requests for assistance on a particular suspect, warns the suspect about the investigation.
In some cases, the Chinese regime allegedly profits directly from illegal sales through ownership stakes in the illicit drug manufacturers. “The fentanyl crisis has helped CCP-tied Chinese organized criminal groups become the world’s premier money launderers, enriched the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] chemical industry, and had a devastating impact on Americans,” according to the committee.
On April 17, CNBC reported details of increased cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, including a whopping 750 million attacks on the Port of Los Angeles in 2023. Over 80 percent of cargo cranes used in U.S. ports are made in China. Many include Chinese software believed to have built-in vulnerabilities that could give adversaries the ability to spy on military cargo shipments, for example, or remotely hijack the loading and unloading of naval and merchant marine ships, creating chaos in U.S. supply chains and military operations.
Google found links between Russian military intelligence and a January hack of a Texas water filtration plant. A pro-Iranian group is believed to have hacked a Pennsylvania water plant in November. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan has called on water companies to do more to secure their cyber operations, including through more secure remote control of water and sewage plants. Given the 150,000 public water authorities in the United States, many of which are cash-strapped, securing them will likely require a national program.
By Anders Corr
