The fight over technology is redefining the rules of engagement in an era when national security and economic power are closely intertwined.

China, under President Xi Jinping, has launched an ambitious plan to dominate mobile technology, supercomputers, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge industries, putting huge resources behind an effort that it considers crucial to the country’s government, military and economy. Beijing wants to build its own technology champions and is encouraging companies to acquire the engineering, expertise and intellectual property from big rivals in the United States and elsewhere.

The aggressive push has set off alarms in Washington, with policymakers and lawmakers fearful that American giants could lose their edge. President Trump is now building up the country’s defenses, as the government investigates potential violations of American intellectual property rights and intensifies scrutiny of overseas deals.

The secretive panel that is reviewing the Qualcomm deal, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, has taken on a central role in the resistance to Chinese investment. The panel, which is led by the Treasury Department and made up of representatives from multiple agencies, has the authority to block foreign acquisitions of American companies for national security reasons; it has effectively killed several acquisitions linked to Chinese buyers over the past year. Lawmakers are also calling to expand the powers of Cfius to reflect the broader scope of China’s interests.

[ What is Cfius? It is the “ultimate regulatory bazooka,” according to an executive who works on mergers and acquisitions. Read more about the panel here » ]

“The Trump administration turbocharged it,” Tony Balloon, the head of the corporate China practice at the law firm Alston & Bird, said, referring to Cfius. “There is now a recognition in government that foreign investors, particularly from China, are getting more and more sophisticated on how they get access to technology in the U.S.”

With Qualcomm, the government has articulated its evolving vision for global economic leadership.

The company, which is a major supplier to the United States government, is a leading player in the race to build the next generation wireless technology, known as 5G. These high-speed mobile networks will form the infrastructure backbone that ultimately connects home appliances, streetlights and driverless cars to the internet. And Qualcomm’s chips will be in the multitude of devices and machines that will run on those networks.