A call for economic and military pressure
Moskowitz argues that China's Communist leadership seeks to spread its ideology globally and should be regarded as an adversary of the United States and other democracies. He advocates weakening China's economy to hinder its military expansion and development of advanced weapons.
His warning centers on Iran's war with the United States. The letter says China appears to be supplying satellite imagery that helps Iran more accurately target ships in the Strait of Hormuz and American and other military bases across the Middle East. Moskowitz argues that such assistance helps Iran wound and kill US service members. He also points to reports of 1,300 shipments of components with potential uses in drones and missiles.
Reports trace satellite assistance to Iranian attacks
A September 25 CNN report, based on four sources describing recent US intelligence assessments, detailed assistance from Chinese groups. Those assessments linked satellite imagery and intelligence support to a July 2026 Iranian strike on a US base in Jordan that killed three American service members. US officials believe Iran could not otherwise have achieved that degree of precision.
The assessments also credited Chinese geospatial data with helping Iran follow ships through the Strait of Hormuz and choose when to launch heat-seeking drones. Months earlier, in May, the Trump administration had sanctioned three Chinese satellite companies over imagery it said "enables Iran's military strikes against US forces in the Middle East," CNN reported.
A separate Financial Times report, carried by Reuters and the Taipei Times on April 16, described Iran's secret acquisition of the Chinese spy satellite TEE-01B in late 2024. Earth Eye Co, a Chinese company, built and launched the satellite, which was acquired by the Aerospace Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. The agreement also gave the IRGC access to commercial ground stations operated by Beijing-based Emposat.
According to that report, TEE-01B photographed Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Air Base on March 13, 14 and 15, 2026. Around the time of attacks claimed by the IRGC, it also monitored Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and areas near the US Navy Fifth Fleet base in Manama, Bahrain, and Erbil International Airport in Iraq.
The broader damage to American installations was documented in a Pentagon inspector general report cited by CNN in September. During the war's opening months, Iranian strikes "damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan." As Iran and its proxy forces attacked, CENTCOM relocated personnel, assets and storage facilities.
Dual-use shipments and Washington's response
The shipment figure cited by Moskowitz comes from reporting with a specific scope: roughly 1,300 deliveries of dual-use technology by Chinese aircraft to Iran's Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry from January through June 2026. The Wall Street Journal reported the figure on September 23, citing Iranian customs records, according to a summary by the Institute for the Study of War. The cargo included technology potentially usable in producing guidance systems for drones and missiles.
GPS tracking devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts were listed in one shipment. About a dozen others carried components valued at more than $6 million that could be used in flight-control units for precision-guided weapons. The Journal also reported increased air traffic between Iran and China since June, saying it might reflect Chinese help in rebuilding Iran's military and attempts to evade the US naval blockade.
During Chinese leader Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington in late September, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said the administration had told Beijing that any assistance to Iran, whether direct or indirect, was "totally unacceptable." Trump confirmed that the Iran war had been among the subjects he discussed with Xi.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a different assessment of China's role. He said Chinese actions had not altered the trajectory of the conflicts with Iran and that Beijing had "actually been quite cooperative" in some cases. As an example, he pointed to China's public opposition to Iranian attempts to impose tolls on passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Naval strength and nuclear expansion
Beyond Iran, Moskowitz cites China's naval size, expanding nuclear capabilities and extensive cyber warfare systems as reasons for concern.
The Pentagon and the Congressional Research Service identify China as having the largest navy by ship count. Its battle force exceeds 370 ships and submarines, not counting roughly 60 Houbei-class patrol craft armed with missiles. The US Navy's comparable force numbered about 290 to 296 ships. Defense Department projections put the Chinese fleet at about 395 ships in the near term and 435 by 2030.
China also operates three aircraft carriers: Liaoning, Shandong and Fujian. Fujian, which uses catapults to launch aircraft, began operational deployments in early 2026.
SIPRI's Yearbook 2026, released June 8, estimates China's nuclear inventory at around 620 warheads and says its arsenal is growing faster than any other country's. By January, China had placed hundreds of missiles in three large silo fields in the north while continuing work on 30 silos across three mountainous areas in the east.
SIPRI also puts that growth in perspective: Even if China's arsenal exceeds 1,000 warheads by 2030, it would still be about one-quarter the size of each of the current US and Russian nuclear stockpiles.
Support for regional allies
Moskowitz urges Washington to help Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia maintain strong militaries to deter what he describes as China's aggressive policies. His letter also identifies Russia and North Korea as potential enemies that warrant US vigilance.
