(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott issued a second executive order in one week to protect Texans from threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The first order was issued to protect Texans of Chinese descent from CCP and PRC operatives targeting them by authorizing Texas Department of Public Safety officers to investigate and arrest alleged offenders.
The second order directs the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to prepare for potential threats against Texas’ critical infrastructure from a hostile foreign government or proxies, including the CCP and PRC.
“China has made it clear that they can – and will – target and attack America’s critical infrastructure,” Abbott said. “Just this past year, a hostile Chinese government actor targeted America’s communications, energy, transportation, water, and wastewater systems, threatening our national security. Texas will continue to protect our critical infrastructure to ensure the safety of Texans from potential threats by the Chinese Communist Party or any hostile foreign government.”
The order directs TDEM and the PUC to identify potential vulnerabilities to prevent cyberattacks on local, state and other critical infrastructure. This includes requiring them to establish a task force to survey potential vulnerabilities of state and local governments and other critical infrastructure and provide recommendations to address such vulnerabilities; to simulate responses to cyberattacks on key industry sectors of the Texas economy and recommend policies and best practices to prevent attacks and mitigate their effects; and convene a committee of state agencies to simulate a restart of Texas’ electric grid in the event of a foreign attack.
Abbott also ordered the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas to create a secure, dedicated communications channel for telecommunication and electrical infrastructure companies for use to prioritize load requests during a critical grid incident.
The order expands on actions taken in 2021 to ban Texas governmental entities and businesses from entering into contracts with companies owned or controlled by hostile foreign nations to gain access to Texas’ critical infrastructure. The Texas legislature unanimously passed the “Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act,” which Abbott signed into law, after lawmakers learned that a Chinese billionaire and former Chinese People’s Liberation Army general bought over 130,000 acres of land just miles from Laughlin Air Force base in Val Verde County, the largest air force pilot training base in the U.S., The Center Square reported.
The order also requires the state agencies to submit recommendations to him and the legislature by Jan. 15, 2025.
Abbott’s order cites FBI Director Christopher Wray describing Chinese national security threats, saying the PRC “has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist.” The PRC efforts to target critical infrastructure “is both broad and unrelenting,” Wray said, and is working “to give itself the ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” the order states.
Wray warned earlier this year of national security threats posed by China saying, “China is the defining threat of our generation. … China’s hacking program is larger than that of every other major nation, combined,” The Center Square reported.
Abbott’s order also points to a warning issued by the National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that PRC state-sponsored actors compromise and maintain a persistent access to U.S. critical infrastructure.”
Earlier this year, federal authorities warned of “disabling cyberattacks” targeting critical infrastructure by a PRC-sponsored cyber group, Volt Typhoon. Its “choice of targets and pattern of behavior are not consistent with traditional cyber espionage,” they warned, adding that “Volt Typhoon actors are pre-positioning themselves to disrupt critical infrastructure operations in the event of geopolitical tensions and/or military conflicts,” The Center Square reported.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s also published a report identifying in detail the strategies Volt Typhoon uses to target vulnerable systems, hack into them and steal information.
These warnings were issued after several municipal water districts in north Texas were the victims of ransomware attacks, The Center Square reported.
This year, the U.S. House passed several bills to combat Chinese national security threats, The Center Square reported.
They did so after the greatest number of Chinese nationals – more than 176,000 – were reported illegally entering the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.