The U.S. Army under the Biden administration has this week signed a lucrative defense contract with ST Engineering, a Singaporean firm specializing in aerospace, electronics, land systems and marine transport. ST Engineering is one of the largest defence and engineering groups in Asia and caters to the Chinese military.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, ST Engineering, alongside defense contractor and the British defence company BAE Systems, will together build an armoured troop carrier specifically for use in arctic conditions and based on the company's range of Bronco vehicles, which are strong enough to sustain bomb attacks in Afghanistan without casualties. American military vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh Defence will collaborate with ST Engineering to product what will become the U.S. Army's cold-weather all-terrain vehicle or ATV.
However, the collaboration between the Biden Administration's army and a Singaporean company that caters to China has raised concerns over possible industrial espionage and may place the Pentagon at risk for infiltration.
A former National Security Council official expressed his concern that the new lucrative defense contract may be an "attractive" way to get inside U.S. intelligence.
The former NSC official told the Free Beacon that the main concern is "cyber and counterintelligence," that "any collaboration gets back to China, but that [it] also becomes an attractive cyber pathway for [People's Republic of China] exploitation."
Singapore's ST Engineering owns and operates iDirect, a satellite communications technology solutions provider that caters to PetroChina, a Beijing-backed energy company that is linked by the Chinese military. iDirect also provides satellite systems to China's maritime law enforcement. In 2018, the company worked with Chinese automotive company BYD Auto to build AI forklifts and in 2019 to create autonomous busses. Both projects may have defense applications.
Capitol Hill legislators have also expressed concern over the Biden administration choosing to award a lucrative defense contract to a firm linked to the CCP. Republican Rep. Jim Banks called out the Biden administration for "lagging behind geopolitical reality" that China is truly a major threat to the United States.
He argued, "We need to start treating China like the existential threat it plainly is. The United States shouldn't be funding Chinese military companies in any way."
ST Engineering also has ties to the iangsu Huatong Power Heavy Industry Co., a Chinese construction company headquartered in Urumqi in the capital of Xinjiang, where the Uyghur genocide continues to occur. In July 2020, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on another Chinese construction group Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps., which was involved in a paramilitary organization in the area, where human rights abuses were reported.
Nonetheless, ST Engineering Land Systems head Lee Shiang Long expressed his satisfaction over the lucrative defense contract with the Biden administration.
Lee told Channel News Asia, "ST Engineering has been pursuing growth in international defence, offering our suite of munitions, weapons and platforms. This is a validation of our defence engineering capabilities and ability to deliver a competitive solution."
