To most Arizonans, our state seems blessedly far from geopolitical conflicts between the United States, China and Russia. Unfortunately, however, America’s foreign adversaries, particularly the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appear to have a different perspective. They are quietly executing on a strategy to home in on Arizona’s military bases, manufacturing plants and critical infrastructure as targets to hit in order to disable or divert U.S. forces at the outset of a conflict that they would start. And now they have reportedly admitted as much, according to Wall Street Journal reporting on December conversations between Chinese officials and President Biden’s White House. 

Because of these risks, we are proud to sponsor legislation to bolster Arizona’s defenses and thereby reduce the chances of our state being hurt in an attack. Representative Kupper’s HB 2696 blocks Chinese network-connected technologies from critical infrastructure, while Representative Diaz’s HB 2542 blocks state purchase of these same technologies. As a border state, Arizonans understand that our security and prosperity must be protected. In the cyber domain, Arizonans know that every state can be impacted from afar if it is using the wrong technologies.

Arizona is home to key military bases such as Fort Huachuca and Luke Air Force Base, where Representative Kupper previously served. It is also the center of America’s renaissance in semiconductor fabrication facilities, the source of the chips that power both U.S. weapons and the country’s economy. Finally, given its arid climate, Arizona depends to an unusual degree on infrastructure such as water and electricity plants that are vulnerable to CCP-linked hackers.

Both President Biden and President Trump have sounded an alarm about this vulnerability while calling on states to act. For instance, during the Biden Administration, the National Security Advisor and head of the Environmental Protection Agency jointly sent a letter to all U.S. governors warning of Chinese and Iranian cyber threats to their water treatment facilities and instructing the states to develop action plans to respond. 

This alert followed reporting by Microsoft in 2023 that a network of CCP-linked hackers called Volt Typhoon had been working since mid-2021 to compromise critical infrastructure across the continental United States and on territories such as Guam. According to Microsoft and the federal government, these groups often use backdoors in Chinese-made electronic equipment.

More recently, President Trump issued a March executive order making it national policy for state governments to play a more active role in national resilience and preparedness.

Arizona must act, and our legislation is the solution. We must stop buying Chinese electronics and phase out existing Chinese systems and components in Arizona’s government systems and critical infrastructure. Our legislation is a direct response to federal warnings and public threat reporting.

Specific threats to which our bills respond include Chinese routers and security cameras. For instance, during the transition to the Trump Administration, the Wall Street Journal reported ongoing investigations by the Justice, Commerce and Defense Departments into a PRC-based company called TP-Link. TP-Link routers for homes and businesses are the best-selling routers on Amazon and enjoy an estimated 65 percent market share in the United States, but Microsoft disclosed in October 2024 that Chinese hackers are using these routers to launch cyberattacks. New Bloomberg reporting reemphasizes the threat.

Additionally, in February the Department of Homeland Security warned that an estimated 12,000 Chinese-made network-connected security cameras are spying on U.S. critical infrastructure around the country. 

Our legislation, which would address these risks to Arizona’s safety and security, must be signed into law this spring. We call for bipartisan support to mitigate these security risks that have been highlighted by both the Biden and Trump administrations. The safety of Arizonans deserves nothing less. 

Representative Kupper is serving in his first term and Represents LD25 (Buckeye/Yuma).

Representative Diaz has been serving since 2020 and represents LD19 (Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz, and Pima Counties).