The email account of the U.S. Commerce Secretary was hacked by China.

A serious breach occurred when a member of Joe Biden's cabinet, representing the United States of America, was hacked by our greatest rival. This breach extends beyond the individual's account, as even the Commerce Minister's accounts in the U.S. State Department were compromised. To provide some context, Microsoft is responsible for providing email services to the U.S. government, and it was within their systems that the breach took place. The hackers responsible for this intrusion are known as "Storm0558," a group based in China. They successfully gained access to Outlook emails, and the breach occurred on May 15th. Shockingly, it took an entire month for the intrusion to be detected and for the necessary measures to be taken to block their access.The intrusion was discovered on June 16th, just before the U.S. Secretary of State's trip to Beijing. Despite being aware of the hack, Secretary Blinken proceeded with the high-profile visit as an attempt to resume dialogue with Chinese officials. The primary target of this hack was U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, which is not surprising considering the ongoing trade war and the Commerce Department's involvement in containing China. The Commerce Department plays a key role in enforcing restrictions on exports to China, particularly in advanced technologies like chips and chip-making equipment. Additionally, a congressional staffer, a U.S. human rights advocate, and several U.S. State Department inboxes were also compromised. An investigation is currently underway, but American officials state that no classified information was compromised. When questioned about the hack, China responded in a manner reminiscent of past incidents, suggesting that the U.S. is the world's largest hacking empire and global cyber chief, emphasizing the U.S. National Security Agency's historical involvement in cyber activities.

Just weeks after Bill Gates visited his close friend Xi Jinping, it appears that Xi has reciprocated by allegedly employing Microsoft, the company Gates co-founded, to carry out a cyber attack against the U.S. government. Despite the substantial amount of 15.6 billion dollars invested in cybersecurity by the federal authorities, surpassing the GDP of approximately 75 countries, Chinese cyber spies successfully exploited a critical vulnerability in Microsoft's cloud infrastructure, allowing them to hack into email accounts at the State Department and other government agencies. However, this revelation should not be shocking, given the longstanding symbiotic relationship between Microsoft and China. As Forbes highlighted in a recent article, Microsoft became the first foreign company to introduce public cloud computing services to the Chinese market back in 2014. Furthermore, in March of this year,

Microsoft announced its intention to offer OpenAI, a poverty-fighting initiative, as part of its cloud services. Additionally, astonishingly enough, Microsoft granted the Chinese government access to the source code of its Windows operating system. This decision was made back in March of 2003. Joining me now is Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committee.

Microsoft must address the questions arising from this situation. The information available suggests that gaining access to government accounts would have required more than just an individual key, but rather an equivalent of a master key. This should have been securely held by Microsoft, so it is essential to determine how the Chinese infiltrators obtained it. Furthermore, this issue extends beyond Microsoft and raises concerns about our own government, particularly regarding Joe Biden's approach to accommodating and appeasing Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist regime. Given this continuous provocation, from a balloon incident a few months ago to now hacking into the State Department, we should not be surprised by their bold actions.

Despite the ongoing provocative actions against the United States and its allies, we observe a consistent pattern of senior administration officials, such as the Treasury Secretary and soon John Kerry, engaging in talks about climate change and appealing to China for assistance in fulfilling Joe Biden's goals. It should come as no surprise that these actions continue, considering our efforts to seek cooperation from China.For the past two to three decades, we have been heavily reliant on outsourcing a significant portion of our industrial base to China. Their shipyards have surpassed the combined capabilities of American shipyards. This issue demands our utmost attention. We cannot allow China to outpace us in ship production, with their ability to manufacture more ships in a year than we can build in three, four, or even five years. It is crucial that we prioritize bringing jobs back to the United States and focus on developing a skilled workforce that can secure well-paying positions, particularly in industries like shipbuilding.