ANNUAL REPORT

232
abroad—from highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to low-enriched
uranium (LEU) fuel.* 335
Select U.S.-China Security-Related Visits and
Exchanges in 2016
Shangri-La Dialogue: At the 15th Shangri-La Dialogue,† held
in Singapore in June 2016, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton
Carter advocated for a ‘‘principled security network’’ featuring
expanded cooperation among regional militaries, and warned
that China risked building a ‘‘Great Wall of self-isolation’’
through its actions in the South China Sea. 336 Other regional defense
officials at the dialogue voiced their support for a rulesbased
international order, while Chinese defense officials reiterated
Beijing’s position on its territorial claims in the South
China Sea. 337 Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Joint
Staff Department under the Central Military Commission, reading
from prepared remarks rather than addressing other participants’
questions, 338 emphasized that China did not intend to
comply with the upcoming UN Tribunal ruling and insisted that
China’s sovereignty is indisputable. 339
High-Level Dialogue on Cybercrime and Related Issues: China’s
Minister of Public Security chaired the second high-level U.S.-
Chinese dialogue on cybercrime in Beijing in June 2016, pursuant
to an agreement signed in Washington in September 2015 in
which both sides pledged not to conduct or knowingly support
cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property for commercial
gain. 340 At this event, U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to deepen
cooperation on combating cybercrime, reflected positively on
the cybercrime-themed ‘‘table-top exercise’’ held in April 2016
and decided to hold a second prior to the next dialogue, and determined
they would implement a previously planned hotline for
cyber-related discussions. 341 The next high-level meeting on
cybercrime is planned for late 2016 in Washington. 342
Port visits: Port visits have grown in frequency since the Commission’s
2015 Annual Report to Congress, with a PLA Navy
antipiracy task group visiting Florida (the PLA’s first visit to the
United States’ East Coast) and Hawaii in November and December
2015, respectively, and the PLA Navy hospital ship Peace
dkrause on DSKHT7XVN1PROD with USCC
* According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are four Chinese-built Miniature
Neutron Source Reactors in China, two of which are in operation, and one each in Ghana,
Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria. These are low-power (approximately 30 kilowatt) research
reactors used primarily for scientific analysis, education, and training; national and international
efforts have been underway since 1978 to convert them from the use of HEU to LEU
fuel. HEU is enriched to the level theoretically required for the construction of a gun-type nuclear
weapon (it differs substantially from weapons-grade uranium, which is enriched to a much
higher level; the higher the enrichment level, the lower the amount of material needed to construct
a weapon). International Atomic Energy Agency, ‘‘CRP on Conversion of Miniature
Neutron Source Research Reactors (MNSR) to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU),’’ June 14, 2016;
Nuclear Threat Initiative, ‘‘Civilian HEU Reduction and Elimination Resource Collection,’’
March 15, 2016.
† The Shangri-La Dialogue, or Asia Security Summit, is hosted annually by the International
Institute for Strategic Studies. It is attended by defense ministers and their civilian and military
chiefs of staff from over 50 Asia Pacific countries. International Institute for Strategic Studies,
‘‘About the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue.’’
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