The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

Recognition of this urgent and grave matter is finally receiving recognition by the mainstream media. Chinese microchips have been planted within every facet of U.S. life, from the military to household PC components, as well as everyday appliances such as irons and microwaves.

Further information previously archived on Global Geopolitics can be found within the following previous posts:

The Secret Ways of Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei (2013)

Security backdoor found in China-made US military chip (2012)

 

Click for a larger animated version. (Illustrator: Scott Gelber for Bloomberg Businessweek)

 

The attack by Chinese spies reached almost 30 U.S. companies, including Amazon and Apple, by compromising America’s technology supply chain, according to extensive interviews with government and corporate sources.

In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video. Based in Portland, Ore., Elemental made software for compressing massive video files and formatting them for different devices. Its technology had helped stream the Olympic Games online, communicate with the International Space Station, and funnel drone footage to the Central Intelligence Agency. Elemental’s national security contracts weren’t the main reason for the proposed acquisition, but they fit nicely with Amazon’s government businesses, such as the highly secure cloud that Amazon Web Services (AWS) was building for the CIA.

Euro Fall Would Raise Stakes for China, US

With the possibility of Greece, already in shambles and under consideration of exiting the Eurozone, the Euro most likely could afford to absorb the loss of one member nation. However, with Italy and Spain on the brink of disaster themselves, there is no way of controlling what will be an outright implosion of the EU. Should that happen, and it’s likely a gaurantee at this point, you could likely count the days on one hand until the United States follows suit.

The situation in the euro zone has become so bleak that it is giving rise to the most improbable rumours. The latest to make the rounds of European hedge fund managers suggests that the euro will be tied to the dollar at close to parity, a dramatic fall from its current level of just under $1.30 and one that would involve the printing of hundreds of billions of euros.

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If the euro collapses that will be especially bad news for China though, since 18 per cent of China’s exports go to Europe. In April, Chinese exports to the euro zone were down 2.4 per cent from a year ago, according to broker CLSA. Some of those exports were from German makers in China itself. For example, Pakistani textile mills have recently imported capital equipment from Siemens plants on the mainland. But if the euro sinks, German manufacturers will export from home rather than from their Chinese factories.

Some analysts suspect that China has been trying to support the euro and indeed, data from BNY Mellon suggests that as the growth in Chinese reserves slows, the euro falls.

Meanwhile, the liquidity from the excess printing of money especially in the U.S. continues to spill over into the rest of the world.

Full article: Euro Fall Would Raise Stakes for China, US (CNBC)