What is newer is this emphasis on the threat to our democracies posed by Chinese spies. The project for the Americans and the British now is to demonstrate that Beijing, which has increasing economic means at its disposal and has gained a lot of confidence in the international arena, is more active than ever in this domain,” said Antoine Bondaz, China specialist at France’s Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique. “Accusations of economic and industrial espionage on the part of China are nothing new. FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Chinese agents have been caught “out in the US heartland, sneaking into fields to dig up proprietary, genetically modified seeds, which would have cost them nearly a decade and billions in research to develop themselves”.īeijing categorically denied the accusations on Wednesday, declaring that “facts have fully proven that the US is the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development”, as reported by The Guardian. One example has them hiding among our crops, stealing GMO samples to appropriate their technology. The description is anxiety-provoking, giving an impression of Chinese spies lurking on every street corner. The joint declaration reads like a laundry list of ways in which Chinese spies are pillaging Western know-how and imperilling democracy. They decided to hit hard with the public statement from two intelligence heads. There is thus a new dynamic that Washington and London intend to exploit as quickly as possible. How are the Russian invasion and the Chinese threat related? "US allies, especially in continental Europe, tend to be less hawkish toward China, but because of the war they might see the threat of regimes like Russia or China, stood by Putin, more according to Washington's view." A multitude of spying incidents 'made in China'įor Leoni, "there is a momentum in favour of Washington’s position because of the war in Ukraine". It's a political decision made in Washington and London, which means it's an important diplomatic stance,” said Zeno Leoni, a specialist in Chinese defence and Sino-Western affairs at King’s College London. Intel people cannot do that on their own it must come from above. “It is very unusual because you normally don’t see heads of spy agencies delivering joint statements. Christopher Wray travelled from Washington to show a united front with British intelligence head Ken McCallum in London on Wednesday, July 6, where they declared that there is currently no greater threat to the West than China. “The government is yet to explain why we are turning a blind eye to Britain's largest semiconductor foundry falling into the hands of an entity from a country that has a track record of using technology to create geopolitical leverage.” China's hacking historyĬhina's state-sponsored hackers are long-known for their attacks on high-value organisations and universities, often with the intention of information stealing.The heads of the American FBI and British MI5 have never before appeared side by side for a joint statement. “The semiconductor industry sector falls under the scope of the legislation, the very purpose of which is to protect the nation’s technology companies from foreign takeovers when there is a material risk to economic and national security,” he said. MP Tom Tugendhat said at the time he was surprised the deal had taken place without being put through a review under a National Security and Investment Act. In July 2021, an MP raised concerns about Chinese-owned Nexperia acquiring Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), a Welsh semiconductor company. Lastly, the new agency is expected to provide guidance on takeovers in "sensitive” industries. In July 2022, a group of MPs also demanded that Chinese surveillance equipment companies like Hikvision should be banned from the UK, expressing concerns about the ethics and security of the company.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |