1. The Chinese government is hacking its way to new technology.

A J-31 stealth fighter of Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force REUTERS/Alex Lee

By employing cyber attacks and hacking to steal US military technology, China is circumventing the long, painstaking research and development phase of weapons manufacturing.

In January and February of 2018, hackers working for the Chinese government were able to steal 614 gigabytes of information from a military contractor about a secretive US Navy project called Sea Dragon, intended to upgrade and improve current US weapons systems by introducing a "disruptive offensive capability," The Washington Post reported.

There are many other known instances of Chinese security breaches; and even at high levels of classification and security, the US government has difficulty controlling the intrusions.