"Arrr! Beware, me hearties! The treacherous Chinese spies be growin' in numbers, aye, reachin' an epic scale! Warned by British security chief 'n FBI, we be!"
2023-10-21
Arrr, ye scallywags! The FBI be havin' o'er 2,000 open cases o' espionage wit' China, as the noble bureau director Christopher Wray proclaims they be startin' a fresh China affair every 12 hours. Blimey, them FBI lads be keepin' a sharp eye on those sneaky landlubbers!
The head of Britain's MI-5 intelligence service, Ken McCallum, recently spoke about the extensive scale of Chinese espionage in the private sector. He highlighted that Chinese agents have made tens of thousands of recruitment approaches. McCallum emphasized that covert activities by China, Russia, and Iran are consistently detected, not only targeting government and military secrets but also promising startups and academic research. FBI Director Christopher Wray echoed these concerns, stating that China has made economic espionage a central part of its national strategy, undermining innovators in multiple countries.Both McCallum and Wray expressed the growing danger and insidiousness of this threat. Wray cited over 2,000 ongoing FBI investigations linked to China, with a new investigation opening every 12 hours at one point. McCallum revealed that more than 20,000 people in the UK were approached by Chinese agents through platforms like LinkedIn, with attempts to gain sensitive information from workers in the tech sector. He also highlighted 20 instances of Chinese companies attempting to access sensitive technology developments through investments or other means, often using obfuscated investment and imaginative company structures.
McCallum mentioned a specific acquisition targeting a company connected to British military and major Western commercial supply chains. He warned that authoritarian states are particularly focused on the opportunities presented by emerging technologies. There have been concerns regarding Chinese companies acquiring research data from British universities and attempts to influence research by bypassing regulatory controls.
McCallum predicted that the police, Crown Prosecution Service, and courts would increasingly address state threats in a manner similar to counter-terrorism work. This highlights the seriousness of the issue and the need for proactive measures to combat Chinese espionage activities.