The Western Journal By Garion Frankel
Just one week into his presidency, Joe Biden seems insistent on making the country more vulnerable to Chinese aggression.
On May 1, then-President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13920, which recognized âthat foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system.â
The order followed by explaining the bulk-power system âprovides the electricity that supports our national defense, vital emergency services, critical infrastructure, economy, and way of life.â
The Washington Examiner reported that, in essence, âTrump forbade the use of grid equipment that is made in China, Russia, or other hostile nationsâ â a common-sense protection that enhances national security from both a military and civilian perspective.
However, the Examiner further reported that in an executive order issued by Biden on Sunday, âburied amid matters purportedly designed to combat climate changeâ was an extremely dangerous provision that âsuspends [Trumpâs order] for ⊠90 days while asking the secretary of energy to use the time to consider if a replacement order should be issued.â
Even if the secretary of energy elects to reinstate the order 90 days from now, Bidenâs mandated review period could still prove extremely destructive.
RealClearEnergy reported in September that âChinese power equipment provided to the U.S. can be embedded with software and hardware to remotely commit mischief from Beijing.â
The Chinese government is not our friend and shouldnât be treated as if it is. By revoking Trumpâs executive order, Biden would be once again opening up the window for infiltration. The Chinese Communist Party is patient and will take advantage of any chance to weaken us.
Therefore, any bulk-power related imports from China in the next 90 days would substantially increase the risk of a cyber or electrical attack on the United States, for which China has legitimate first-strike capacity.
While the immediate possibility of such an attack is low, why should we create any unnecessary danger for ourselves?
This isnât a fight about steel or soybeans. They are important and affect lives and livelihoods, but the situation simply isnât the same.
Cyber and electrical attacks pose an existential threat to the American way of life, but they are being relegated to an afterthought in an executive order focused on climate initiatives.
For the good of the nation, Biden needs to be tough on China, but all of his actions so far indicate that he will take a soft approach â much to the chagrin of our allies in Asia.
The Washington Post tweeted that âBidenâs Commerce secretary pick pledges a tough line on China but doesnât detail how it will deal with Huawei.â
Bidenâs Commerce secretary pick pledges a tough line on China but doesnât detail how it will deal with Huawei https://t.co/0byqbdOaqj
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 27, 2021
Conservatives have warned that Biden would be dangerously weak toward China, and it appears their fears have been realized. Already, good policy has fallen victim to the pen and phone.
Hopefully, Biden will wisen up and get tough on China. Our future may depend on it.
I worked in the Electric Utility Industry for 37 yrs. What this means is that the critical station transformers & other equipment that are used in the US Transmission Line Substations can be made in China. These are very large expensive transformers and when ordered may take up to 1 yr. delivery time. Usually 1 or more are kept for emergency replacement as a loss of one of these transformers in a major substation is critically important to be replaced asap. Other key pieces of equipment can be Circuit Breakers or control devices that are usually part of the line protection systems as well as monitoring various loads, voltages, etc. All of these are nowdays all controlled by computers and electronics. The issue like stated in the article, is that Chinese made products can be imbedded and hidden with circuitry and other devices to be controlled from outside. It would be easy to raise havoc on the Transmission Grid with access to control features that can trip key Circuit Breakers on the Grid and cause a cascade effect to bring the system down. Who knows how else they could sabotage key equipment they could trigger at any time. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is the head of the North American bulk power system. They are responsible for the Transmission Grid and it’s safety. Many guidelines are in place to prevent all of this from happening and are the Security checkpoint. But, who knows if they will prevent any such thing from happening.