From Genomic Sequencing to Cerebral-Based Weaponry: The New Frontier of the People’s Liberation Army’s Military Technology
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The People Republic of China’s 2020 “14th Five Year Plan” – the cornerstone for Chinese national defense posture and economic planning – is the first guiding document to highlight the strategic importance of biotechnology in China’s history. Yet there has been very little awareness or response among U.S. policymakers and experts to the Chinese military’s rapidly evolving biotechnology programs. This thesis is the first study to comprehensively evaluate the scope and status of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) biotechnology capabilities, ranging from emerging biotechnologies to advanced tools already deployed from the Chinese arsenal. To understand the evolution of the PLA’s biotechnology programs and milestones, this thesis collected an original dataset of over 500 open-source Chinese language documents, ranging from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) white papers to Chinese military scientific journals and Chinese news publications. Through two case studies – an investigation of the PLA’s brain-computer interface capabilities and a study of China’s large-scale genomic sequencing programs – this thesis examines the PLA’s strategies for developing and deploying biotechnologies at scale. This analysis first concludes that late-stage partnerships between commercial Chinese biotechnology organizations and military research groups have been an effective avenue for the Chinese military to pursue rapid development of militarized biotechnology. Second, the CCP’s efforts to concentrate technological capabilities under centralized umbrella organizations have proven to be an efficient strategy for deployment. By more fully understanding the PLA’s biotechnology capabilities and deployment strategies, U.S. policymakers and research institutions can work together to better respond to this growing national security risk.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date modified | December 5, 2022 |
| Publication date | June 1, 2022; June 1, 2022 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Velaise, Theodore |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor | Skylar Mastro, Oriana |
| Thesis advisor | Palmer, Megan J. |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation |
Subjects
| Subject | Genomic Sequencing |
|---|---|
| Subject | Academy of Military Medical Sciences |
| Subject | Academy of Military Sciences |
| Subject | Military Technology |
| Subject | Biotechnology |
| Subject | Brain-Computer Interface |
| Subject | Command and Control |
| Subject | Command, Control, Communications, Computers |
| Subject | Cyberspace Agency of China |
| Subject | Chinese Communist Party |
| Subject | China Electronics Technology Corporation |
| Subject | Chinese Military Commission |
| Subject | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| Subject | Deep Brain Stimulation |
| Subject | Defense Intelligence Agency |
| Subject | Electroencephalogram |
| Subject | Integrated Joint Operations Platform |
| Subject | Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance |
| Subject | Military-Civil Fusion |
| Subject | Next-Generation Sequencing |
| Subject | National University of Defense Technology |
| Subject | People’s Liberation Army |
| Subject | People’s Republic of China |
| Subject | Research and Development |
| Subject | State-Owned Enterprise |
| Subject | Strategic Support Force |
| Subject | Science and Technology Commission |
| Subject | Transcranial Magnetoelectric Stimulation |
| Genre | Text |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY).
Preferred citation
- Preferred citation
- Velaise, T. (2022). From Genomic Sequencing to Cerebral-Based Weaponry: The New Frontier of the People’s Liberation Army’s Military Technology. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/qg931hb5618
Collection
Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies, Theses
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