MI5, FBI warn of economic espionage from China

The heads of the major intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States have warned of a possible economic challenge from China. The leaders of the FBI and MI5 warn that China may carry out economic espionage for competitive gain.

The UK’s MI5 head Ken McCallum, warned Wednesday that Beijing’s plan to place “cover pressure across the globe” may be “the most game-changing challenge” the world will face. FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned companies in the West that China is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain.

The address by Wray and McCallum was their first joint appearance at London’s Thames House to business executives and officials who were present.

China rejected the claims as “groundless” and an attempt to “smear” the country’s political system.

McCallum said the MI5 extended its China-focused operations, saying the threat from Beijing “might feel abstract. But it’s real and it’s pressing. We need to talk about it. We need to act.”

Wray called Beijing’s plans a “complex, enduring, and pervasive danger” not only to the US and the UK but also to allies. Wray said that China was “set on stealing your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry tick and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market.”

The FBI chief added that the Chinese government’s hacking program was larger than that of major countries combined.

The warnings were met with mixed reactions, however. While some said it was overdue, others dismissed it as grandstanding.

Last week, during the NATO Summit, the alliance listed China as among its strategic priorities for the first time, saying that China’s ambitions and “coercive policies” pose a challenge to the alliance’s “interests, security, and values.”

The new document or Strategic Concept that was approved during the summit in Madrid said Russia posed a direct threat to the peace and security of the alliance. However, the document also noted that China’s military aspirations, as well as its rhetoric towards Taiwan and closer engagement with Russia, now posed “systemic challenges.”

“China is substantially building up its military forces, including nuclear weapons, bullying its neighbors, threatening Taiwan…monitoring and controlling its own citizens through advanced technology, and spreading Russian lies and disinformation,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.