China’s technology acquisition for military innovation: spectrum of legality in strategic competition

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) acquires foreign technology to upgrade its military capabilities. We describe how PRC-affiliated actors acquire technology according to a legal, extra-legal, and illegal taxonomy based on laws in the United States and highlight each activity using illustrative examples. Policymakers in advanced industrial countries lack comprehensive data and do not have accurate estimates of the size of the problem for activities such as technology licensing, investing in technology companies, or talent programs. For intellectual property theft, the economic estimates are high but assessing the impact on military innovation remains fraught with measurement errors. Devising appropriate policy responses requires a complete inventory of methods used across the spectrum of legality to decide on technology protection priorities and allocate resources accordingly.