The Trump administration is reportedly plotting to head off Chinese investors' likely attempts to buy the bankrupt Westinghouse Electric Co. from parent company Toshiba Corp. in order to protect its nuclear secrets, Bloomberg reports.
Half of the more than 430 nuclear power stations around the world use Westinghouse technology; the company is responsible for building and maintaining reactors in the United States. Westinghouse has long been a target of Chinese espionage, most recently when the China General Nuclear Power Corp. was indicted in 2016 for conspiring to steal restricted technology.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have reportedly discussed plans to prevent the sale of Westinghouse to a company with ties to the Chinese government. "The government might block a sale to a Chinese buyer; encourage an alternative bid from U.S. or friendly foreign investors; or the government might invest in the company directly in return for an equity stake, akin to the Obama administration bailout of U.S. automakers," Bloomberg writes.
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"Do we want that maintenance to be done by the Chinese? There are some bona fide national security issues to giving the Chinese that kind of access to our power grid backbone," explained former U.S. Navy Commander Kirk Lippold on Tuesday. Westinghouse is expected to arise in conversation between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when the pair meet at Mar-a-Lago later this week.
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