Hackers, Tech and Whistleblowers: How is China Spying on the US?

Overflight of the United States by a balloon from China last week, a spy device according to Washington, raises questions about What methods does the Asian giant use? to collect information from other countries.

Beijing’s espionage constitutes “the biggest long-term threat for our nation’s data and intellectual property, as well as our economic vitality,” FBI Director Christopher Wray alarmed in 2020.

“The allegations of so-called ‘Chinese espionage’ not based on factual evidencebut on disinformation and hidden political goals,” China’s foreign affairs ministry told AFP.

Below are the main US accusations against Beijing in terms of espionage.

The shapes

According to researchers and intelligence officials from Western countries, China has become an expert in hack computer systems from rival countries to obtain trade and industrial secrets.

The United States, its allies and NATO indicted the Chinese government in 2021 a massive attack to the IT giant Microsoft, to access emails and confidential information of individuals and companies.

There are also suspicions of Chinese cyberattacks in the United States targeting the Department of Energy, utilities, telecommunications companies and universities, according to Washington and newspaper reports.

The warnings are multiplying in the United States against the TikTok app and the alleged danger to national security posed by its ties to China.

Some lawmakers fear TikTok’s parent, Chinese group ByteDance, can access users’ personal data Americans and pass them on to the Chinese authorities.

The United States has also been blacklisted to the Huawei groupi, known for its mobile phones but also supplying state-of-the-art equipment for 5G and telecommunication networks.

Without providing evidence, Washington fears that these products are being used as a back window to monitor communications and data traffic, which the company strongly denies.

Beijing relies on Chinese citizens abroad to spy on and steal sensitive technology, Washington says.

One of the most publicized cases was that of the Chinese engineer Ji Chaoqun, who arrived in the United States in 2013 on a student visa and sentenced last month to eight years in prison.

The court accused him of providing Chinese intelligence services with information about American scientists that could potentially serve as sources of intelligence.

In 2020, Wei Sun, a naturalized Chinese American engineer who worked at the defense department of Raytheon Group, was sentenced to prison for bringing China a company computer with confidential information on a missile system of US power.

The Courts”

To obtain first-hand information and promote their own interests, Beijing he also courts political and economic personalities first level.

In 2020, the American news website Axios claimed that a Chinese student had established ties with a number of political figures in the country on behalf of Beijing’s intelligence services.

This student, Fang Fang, he would gain their trust attending campaign fundraising events and nurturing their friendship, including through sexual liaisons, Axios said.

In addition to intelligence tools, China has the United States and other countries hidden “police stations”.says human rights organization Safeguard Defenders.

These undeclared structures they can monitor dissidents or put pressure on themaccording to this organization based in Madrid.

Beijing denies these allegations.

In November, the Netherlands ordered China to close two ‘police stations’ in their territory. A month later, according to the Czech authorities, the Asian giant also closed two of these facilities in Prague.

AFP agency