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Spies, Hackers, Informants: How China Snoops on the US
An alleged Chinese surveillance balloon over the United States last week sparked a diplomatic furore and renewed fears over how Beijing gathers intelligence on its largest strategic rival.
By AFP
February 8, 2023
An alleged Chinese surveillance balloon over the United States last week sparked a diplomatic furore and renewed fears over how Beijing gathers intelligence on its largest strategic rival.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said in 2020 that Chinese spying poses “the greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality”.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP that it “resolutely opposed” spying operations and that American accusations are “based on false information and sinister political aims”.
The United States also has its own ways of spying on China, deploying surveillance and interception techniques as well as networks of informants.
Former US president Barack Obama said in 2015 that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had promised not to conduct commercial cyber spying. Subsequent statements by Washington have indicated the practice has continued.
Here are some of the ways Beijing has worked to spy on the United States in recent years:
Cyber warfare
The United States warned in a major annual intelligence assessment in 2022 that the Asian giant represents “the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat” to the government and private sector.
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Tech fears
Fears of the threat from Beijing have seeped into the technology sector, with concerns that state-linked firms would be obliged to share intel with the Chinese government.
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Industrial and military espionage
Beijing has leaned on Chinese citizens abroad to help gather intelligence and steal sensitive technology, according to experts, US lawmakers and media reports.
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Spying on politicians
With the goal of advancing Beijing’s interests, Chinese operatives have allegedly courted American political, social and business elites.
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Police stations
Another technique used by Chinese operatives is to tout insider knowledge about the Communist Party’s opaque inner workings and dangle access to top leaders to lure high-profile Western targets, researchers say.
The aim has been to “mislead world leaders about (Beijing’s) ambitions” and make them believe “China would rise peacefully — maybe even democratically,”
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In September 2022, Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders said China had set up 54 overseas police stations around the world, allegedly to target Communist Party critics.
Beijing has denied the claims.
https://www.securityweek.com/spies-hackers-informants-how-china-snoops-on-the-us/
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