FBI director calls China 'greatest threat' to US, gives details of 'Fox Hunt' programme

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director warned that China poses “greatest long-term threat” to intellectual property and economic vitality of the US. Speaking to the Hudson Institute in Washington on July 7, Christopher Wray highlighted the significance of the threat, saying Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will also be addressing the issues in the next few weeks.

“The greatest long-term threat to our nation's information and intellectual property, and to economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic espionage threat from China,” said Wray.

The FBI director said that the scale of “Chinese theft” is so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history. In a nearly hour-long conversation on China’s attempt to influence US institutions, Wray presented a stark picture of Chinese interference to become the world's only superpower by any means necessary.

“If you are an American adult, it is more likely than not that China has stolen your personal data,” he added.

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FBI opening China-related counterintelligence case

Wray accused China of working to compromise American healthcare organisations, pharmaceutical companies, and academic institutions conducting essential COVID-19 research. He said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) believes it is in a generational fight to surpass the US in economic and technological leadership but not through legitimate innovation, fair and lawful competition but by any means possible.

"We've now reached a point where the FBI is now opening a new China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours," Wray said. 

The FBI director said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had launched a programme called "Fox Hunt" to target political rivals, dissidents, and critics seeking to expose China's extensive human rights violations. He claimed that the Chinese government wants to force them to return to China.

"When it couldn't locate one Fox Hunt target, the Chinese government sent an emissary to visit the target's family here in the United States. The message they said to pass on? The target had two options: return to China promptly, or commit suicide," said Wray.

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(Image: AP)