Published 11:11 IST, July 8th 2020
US FBI levels unprecedented allegations against China: thievery, cyber wars & blackmail
FBI Director Christopher Wray, on July 7, said that half of 5,000 active FBI counterintelligence cases currently underway across the US were related to China.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray on July 7 said that half of nearly 5,000 active FBI counterintelligence cases currently underway across the US were related to China. Calling out China, he said that the Communist nation was constantly working to compromise American healthcare organisations, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions conducting essential COVID-19 research. Terming it as "greatest long-time threat to US’ national intellectual property an economic vitality", the FBI director added that Chinese theft was the largest transfer of wealth in history.
“We’ve now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours. Of the 5000 active FBI counterintelligence cases currently underway across the country, almost half were related to China", he said.
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'China's war'
Wray also accused China of trying to wage a war and become the sole superpower of the world, but by unlawful means. He said that unlike the US, the Chinese Communist Party does not give its citizens freedom of thought speech and creativity.
Wray highlighted that the Chinese use a variety of techniques-from cyber intrusions to corrupting trusted insiders and physical theft for the purpose. The American official said that China had pioneered an expansive approach to stealing innovation through a wide range of actors. Elaborating further, he said that Chinese do that through not only government officials but also through private companies, graduate students and researchers.
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"China is engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign" which includes methods such as bribery, blackmail and covert deals. In addition, he also revealed that a Chinese general ha, since 2014, spearheaded a programme known as 'Foxhunt' to target Chinese nationals living abroad or Chinese he sees as a threat.
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As part of recent developments, the United States announced visa sanctions on several Chinese officials who, it believes, are restricting foreigners' access to Tibet. This comes as another blow to the Chinese authorities from the Trump administration which has constantly denounced its treatment of Hong Kong as well as slammed the human rights violation in Xinjiang province and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.
Image Credits: Pixabay
11:11 IST, July 8th 2020