The heads of the British MI5 and the American FBI warned this Wednesday about Chinese espionage in the Westin a rare joint message at the London headquarters of the British intelligence service.
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Addressing officials and business executives, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Chris Wray said the threat from Chinese spies is very great in both countries and growing.
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McCallum indicated that MI5, the internal intelligence service, had greatly expanded its China-focused operations.
“Today we carry out seven times more investigations than in 2018,” said the director of MI5.
“We plan to grow this much once again, while maintaining significant efforts against covert threats from Russia and Iran,” he added.
He noted that Chinese intelligence takes a slow and patient approach to obtaining sources and access to information.
“By volume, most of what is at risk from Communist Party aggression
Chino is, so to speak, none of my business. It is yours, the world-leading experience, technology, research and business advantages, developed and in the hands of the people in this room,” he assured.
For his part, the FBI’s Wray said the Chinese threat is “a complex, long-lasting and pervasive danger” to the United States and Britain, as well as other allies.
China “seeks to steal your technology, whatever drives your industry forward, and use it to undermine your business and dominate your market,” Wray said.
The two officials also warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province, would entail a massive disruption of trade.
and the world industry. Companies urged to stay vigilant
and report possible threats.
“The Chinese Communist Party is interested in our democratic, media and legal systems. Not to copy them, sadly, but to use them to their advantage,” McCallum said.
Beijing has rejected the accusations, calling them “completely unfounded.” “The alleged cases listed are pure persecution of falsehoods”the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the UK said in a statement posted on the mission’s website.
“They spread all kinds of lies about China to smear the political system
Chinese, stoke anti-Chinese sentiment and divert public attention to cover up their own heinous deeds,” he added.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP
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