Trump on prospect of Mattis' departure: "At some point, everybody leaves"
Ganging up on Beijing? Five Eyes intel network now looks at China
The intelligence-sharing network’s new focus on China was prompted, at least in part, by Germany’s decision to prevent a Chinese investment fund’s acquisition of German semiconductor firm Aixtron in 2016. The German government had initially approved the takeover, only to reverse its decision a month later after US officials reportedly “raised security concerns that Berlin had overlooked.”
https://www.rt.com/news/441104-five-eyes-intelligence-china-alliance/
US President Barack Obama on Friday moved to block a Chinese company's purchase of German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron by rejecting the inclusion of Aixtron's US business in the deal.
https://phys.org/news/2016-12-obama-blocks-takeover-germany-aixtron.html
The move will also shine a light on the shadowy security panel that recommended the deal be dropped. The panel — called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and commonly known as Cfius — has been increasingly at odds with an expansive new Chinese effort to spend billions acquiring foreign high-tech companies.
The panel is composed of representatives from major departments and intelligence agencies like Commerce and Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency. Cfius has the power to review any deal that could impact American national security, and either come up with ways to mitigate that impact or recommend the president block the deal. While the Aixtron deal does not involve an American company, Aixtron itself does considerable business in the United States, and lack of American approval would shut that business off.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/dealbook/china-germany-aixtron-cfius.html