House panel questions Pentagon on Chinese biotech firms

The outgoing chairman of the House’s China-focused committee and its top Democrat are asking the defense secretary to brief Congress on the Pentagon’s assessment of whether several Chinese biotechnology companies belong on a civil-military fusion list.

Chairman Mike Gallagher , R-Wis., who recently announced his imminent resignation from Congress, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., sent a letter asking Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for updates on the mandatory assessment, highlighting one company’s operations in the U.S.

“The [People’s Republic of China’s] 14th five-year plan identifies dominance in biotechnology as critical to ‘strengthen [China’s] science and technological power’ and calls to deepen military-civil science and technology collaboration in the sector,” they wrote in a Friday letter to Austin. “Urgent action is needed to identify the [Chinese] biotechnology entities at the forefront of this work.”

The fiscal 2024 defense policy bill requires the Pentagon to assess whether any biotechnology companies belong on its list of Chinese military firms.

The assessment is due in June, but the letter asks the Pentagon to brief staffers from the House’s Committee on the Chinese Communist Party on the provision by May 1. Gallagher recently announced he will resign on April 19 , with Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., set to take his place as chairman .

Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi singled out six Chinese biotech firms that they believe warrant potential inclusion on the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies. The list includes Innomics, which has operated out of Massachusetts since at least 2010 as a subsidiary of China’s BGI Americas Corp. The other BGI subsidiary on the list is STOmics.

The four other Chinese biotech companies the letter cites are MGI Group, Origincell, Vazyme Biotech and Axibo.

Congress first mandated the Pentagon maintain a list of Chinese military companies in the FY21 defense policy bill. It requires the Defense Department to track companies “identified as a military civil-fusion contributor to the Chinese defense-industrial base” and “engaged in providing commercial services, manufacturing, producing or exporting.”

The list does not result in sanctions. However, it bans the Defense Department from buying goods or services from the designated Chinese military companies.

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

即将卸任的众议院中国事务委员会主席和该委员会的民主党领袖要求国防部长向国会汇报五角大楼对几家中国生物技术公司是否应该列入军民融合名单的评估结果。

即将宣布辞去国会职务的威斯康星州共和党众议员迈克·加拉格尔和伊利诺伊州民主党众议员拉贾·克里希纳穆尔蒂联名致信国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀，要求其提供强制性评估的最新进展，并重点提及一家公司在美国的运营情况。

他们在周五致奥斯汀的一封信中写道：“中华人民共和国的‘十四五’规划将生物技术领域的优势地位视为‘增强中国科技实力’的关键，并呼吁深化军民在该领域的科技合作。亟需采取行动，确定处于这项工作前沿的中国生物技术实体。”

2024 财年国防政策法案要求五角大楼评估是否有任何生物技术公司应该被列入其中国军工企业名单。

评估报告将于 6 月提交，但信中要求五角大楼在 5 月 1 日前向众议院中国共产党委员会的工作人员通报相关规定。加拉格尔最近宣布他将于 4 月 19 日辞职，密歇根州共和党众议员约翰·穆勒纳尔将接替他担任主席一职。

加拉格尔和克里希纳穆尔蒂特别指出六家中国生物科技公司，他们认为这些公司可能应该被列入五角大楼的中国军工企业名单。名单中包括Innomics，该公司自2010年以来一直在马萨诸塞州运营，是华大基因美洲公司的子公司。名单上的另一家华大基因子公司是STOmics。

信中提到的其他四家中国生物技术公司分别是：华大集团、源创生物、诺兴生物和安信生物。

国会在2021财年国防政策法案中首次授权五角大楼维护一份中国军工企业名单。该法案要求国防部追踪“被认定为对中国国防工业基地做出军民融合贡献”且“从事提供商业服务、制造、生产或出口”的公司。

这份名单不会导致制裁。但是，它禁止美国国防部从名单上的中国军工企业购买商品或服务。

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。