Amidst a heightened focus on international security, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken a decisive step to fortify the state's defenses against what he perceives as espionage threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliates. On Tuesday, Abbott issued an executive order directing state agencies and public institutions to bolster their security measures against potential adversaries, particularly pointing to China as a source of malicious espionage operations. Abbott's move, as he articulated, aims at "hardening our state government," to prevent foreign actors from compromising the safety and security of both Texas and the United States at large.
According to a report by KVUE, the executive order mandates that state agencies ensure their partnering companies are not collaborating with adversary governments. These agencies will also need to implement stricter background checks, and employees are barred from accepting gifts or engaging in contracts with entities linked to foreign adversary groups. Notably, the order, extends its reach into the educational sphere, preventing higher education staff from participating in foreign recruitment programs that could undermine national integrity.
Furthermore, in a press release from the governor's office, Abbott underscored the necessity of this directive by referencing FBI reports that allege the Chinese government has targeted local and state officials as part of a strategy to infiltrate and undermine the United States' security structure, News Channel 6 Now detailed. The executive order also requires bidders and proposers to certify that they maintain no ownership ties with foreign adversary governments, in a bid to prevent infiltration at the contractual level. Further provisions include prohibiting employees from taking gifts or participating in work-related travel to such nations and restricts higher education personnel from involvement in adversarial foreign recruitment programs.
This initiative by Abbott comes in the wake of a separate order which instructed Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers to detain individuals suspected of harassing Texans on behalf of foreign entities, following reports of China setting up "police service stations" overseas to intimidate dissidents abroad, KVUE reported. The earlier order, which materialized a day before the current mandate, stood as a testament to Abbott's unwavering stance on state security, and perhaps, his broader political posture, amidst a landscape wrought with international espionage concerns.
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