Xi Jinping wants China's army to work closely with the country's tech giants, further blurring the lines between the military and civilian sectors

Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants China's military to collaborate more closely with local tech giants to boost the country's defenses. Xi's administration has since 2017 been developing its capacity for "Military-civil fusion." This is a drive to make China's armed forces the most advanced in the world, by giving it the freedom to work with civilian research and commercial entities. Other key technologies being researched in China include quantum computing, aerospace, big data, 5G, and advanced nuclear technology, the memo said. Xi's emphasis on forging closer ties between the Chinese military and civilian tech companies comes amid intense scrutiny from the US government on how Chinese tech giants are using the data they harvest. Huawei, Hikvision, and Dahua are among the Chinese tech firms blacklisted by the US. Members of Congress are also pushing to ban TikTok, a popular social media platform owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, over security concerns. In February, the Pentagon shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon and two other unidentified objects over the US. China called the response an overreaction and said it would take unspecified "Countermeasures" against the US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later said the US believes China is considering supplying lethal aid to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Xi on Monday also accused the US of trying to suppress China's growth.