text: Good morning. Here’s your Early Warning for Thursday, 23 December 2021.ADMIN NOTE: There will be no DailySA or Early Warning Show today. We’ll be back on Monday. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. – M.S. TODAY’S BRIEFING:Harvard nanoscientist convicted of Chinese espionageDoD’s Silicon Valley efforts hit roadbumpCRS details findings on autonomous dronesEconomic Warning INTSUMMajor banks downgrade US 2022 GDP after BBB diesLarry Summers issues recession warningEl-Erian on wage inflationOECD warns of continued inflationRAND: US must step up and compete with ChinaQatar plans US port investmentsSITUATIONAL AWARENESSHARVARD PROFESSOR CONVICTED OF LYING ABOUT CHINA CONNECTIONS: A Harvard University professor was convicted on Tuesday of U.S. charges that he lied about his ties to a China-run recruitment program. The case stemmed from a crackdown on Chinese influence within the U.S. academia and research community. A federal jury in Boston found Charles Lieber, a renowned nanoscientist and the former chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, guilty of making false statements to authorities, filing false tax returns and failing to report a Chinese bank account. Prosecutors alleged that Lieber, in his quest for a Nobel Prize, in 2011 agreed to become a “strategic scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology in China and through it participated in a Chinese recruitment drive called the Thousand Talents Program. Prosecutors say China uses that program to recruit foreign researchers to share their knowledge with the country. Participation is not a crime, but prosecutors contend Lieber, 62, lied to authorities inquiring about his involvement. (Analyst Comment: Through his alleged position as a “strategic scientist” Lieber was likely working as an access agent for the Chinese military or Ministry of State Security. Theoretically, Lieber could have been an unwitting agent, although his Chinese bank account, false tax returns and false statements indicate he was probably witting of his role. Lieber’s access to advanced technology and academia allowed him to spot and assess U.S. researchers for recruitment by China’s intelligence services and potentially transfer restricted technology to the Chinese entities. – M.M.)SILICON VALLEY VENTURE CAPITAL UPSET WITH DOD: At the latest Reagan Defense Forum, a Davos-style meeting between Silicon Valley venture capital executives and senior defense officials, Silicon Valley executives complained that working with DOD was too difficult. They warned Pentagon officials that “time is running out” for their high-tech startups who have developed their products for DOD yet have not made it through the Defense Department’s byzantine acquisitions process. Frustrated that DOD has not awarded as many production contracts as expected, venture capital executives stated that startups and their VC money would move on to other venues if the situation was not quickly rectified. Several senior officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, acknowledged the difficulty of working with DOD and promised to address the problem. (AC: Silicon Valley startups and their venture capital backers were hoping to reap the rewards of a $738 billion defense budget but have been stymied by the notoriously slow acquisitions process at DOD. While numerous defense officials promised to address the issue, it is doubtful that any meaningful corrections will be enacted. Silicon Valley startups are numerous and have a high rate of failure. The public gnashing of teeth by their venture capital backers is mostly performative, since if they had an alternative, more responsive market for their technology they would already be in it. – M.M.)