Biden's Nat'l Security Adviser to Trump: Protect Senstive Tech, Work With Allies
Jake Sullivan, in one of his final public appearances as national security adviser under President Joe Biden, urged the incoming Trump administration to continue imposing technology restrictions against China and to do so in coordination with U.S. allies.
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Sullivan, speaking during an event alongside new National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, said the Biden administration has “taken a number of steps to ensure that our high technologies that have national security applications can't be used against us or our friends by China.” In the last week alone, the Commerce Department published three export control rules that set new restrictions on dual-use technologies destined to China, including two related to advanced semiconductors (see 2501130026, 2501150040 and 2501150020).
“I think seeing that work continue in the new administration is very important,” Sullivan said at the United States Institute of Peace.
He also said it’s important that the Trump administration’s China strategy includes the rest of Asia, which “means building on the work that we have done with respect to our allies and partners.” Waltz said he gives the Biden administration “credit” for working with several important U.S. allies in the region to address China, specifically pointing to the “trilateral dialogue” it began with Japan and South Korea.
Officials from the three nations met multiple times under Biden, where they committed to working more closely on economic security and supply chain issues (see 2406030025), including export enforcement (see 2404260067).
“I think all of those things will continue,” Waltz said.
Sullivan also said Waltz should talk regularly with his Chinese counterpart. “Intense competition does require intense diplomacy,” he said, urging the incoming Trump team to maintain an “open channel of communication” with Beijing to manage their disagreements. “I have found it very valuable as national security adviser to have that strategic channel so that China understands what we're up to, and so we understand what they're up to,” he said.
Waltz said part of the Trump administration's strategy toward China will be reducing U.S. dependencies on Chinese-made critical minerals and doing more to arm Taiwan. Republicans have accused the Biden administration of delaying weapons sales to the island (see 2307310020).
“We have over a $20 billion backlog of things that they paid for and that we need to work hard to free up and have them get what they paid for,” Waltz said.
Asked what he believes will be the most immediate national security issue for Trump, Sullivan focused mostly on China, calling it the “one country with both the ambition and the potential capacity to really compete with us across all dimensions.” He also said it will be challenging to manage the national security risks arising from artificial intelligence.
“We've taken some steps to try to make sure that AI works for us rather than against us, to preserve and extend our lead in AI against our competitors,” Sullivan said. “But that is going to be an issue that is going to touch virtually every dimension."
Asked the same question, Waltz said the “most immediate” challenge will come from the U.S. southern border with Mexico. “The open nature of it is just unacceptable,” he said. “You're going to see a lot of action to close the border, to go back to the policies that we believe were working.”