Chinese intelligence activity in other countries

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Please improve this article if you can. (March 2008)

Chinese intelligence agencies are believed to be active outside of the People's Republic of China.[1][2]

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[edit] Method of operation

It is generally believed that Chinese intelligence agencies operate differently from other espionage organizations by employing primarily academics or students who will be in their host country only a short time, rather than spending years cultivating a few high-level sources or double agents.[3][4][5] Much information about the Chinese intelligence services come from defectors, whom the PRC accuse of lying to promote an anti-PRC agenda.[6][7][8][9]

One known exception to this rule is the case of Katrina Leung, who is accused of starting an affair with an FBI agent to gain sensitive documents from him. A U.S. judge dismissed all charges against her due to prosecutorial misconduct.[10][11]

U.S. believe the Chinese military have been developing cyber technologies in recent years in order to perform espionages on other nations. Several cases of computer intrusions suspected of Chinese involvement have been found in various countries including Australia, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States.[12][13][14]

[edit] Objectives

It is believed that Chinese espionage is aimed at stealing commercial, technological, and military secrets, as well as gathering information on the Falun Gong.[15][16][17][18]

Two diplomats who defected in Australia have claimed that China operates more than 1,000 spies and informants in Australia alone; their mission, they said, is industrial espionage but also disruption of the Falun Gong movement. China accused them of lying so they could stay in Australia. Canadian businessman Joe Wang believes that threatening letters he received after broadcasting programs about alleged human rights abuses in China were from the Chinese consulate; one of the envelopes contained boric acid. In November 2005 the United States arrested four people in Los Angeles on suspicion of being involved in a Chinese spy ring.

Taiwan has put many Chinese people on trial for espionage.

Taiwanese-American scientist Wen Ho Lee (born in Nantou, Taiwan December 21, 1939) was accused and investigated on the grounds of espionage in 1999 but was acquitted of all charges except for mishandling classified data. Many accused the U.S. government of racism and have argued that the latest allegations of espionage are motivated at least partly by racism; they point to the history of what they call the fabricated "China threat" theory. An alternate interpretation of this is that the Chinese "Subtle Spying" practice avoids and defends against the United States' prosecution-heavy investigative counterintelligence procedures by introducing large elements of plausible deniability and obfuscating the line between deliberate and unintentional espionage activities.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jones, Tony (July 06 2005). More claims of Chinese spying emerge. ABC News. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  2. ^ Chaulia, Sreeram (April 03 2008). The age of the immigrant spy. Asia Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  3. ^ Johnston, David (May 23 1999). The Nation; Finding Spies Is the Easy Part. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  4. ^ Shulsky, Abram N. & Schmitt, Gary J. (April 22 2004). Son of Al Qaeda: Human Intelligence Collection. PBS. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  5. ^ Warrick, Joby & Johnson, Carrie (April 03 2008). Chinese Spy 'Slept' In U.S. for 2 Decades. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  6. ^ Downer can grant defector political asylum: lawyer. ABC News (June 06 2005). Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  7. ^ Defectors say China running 1,000 spies in Canada. CBC News (June 15 2005). Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  8. ^ Jeldres, Julio A. (June 17 2005). Canberra wakes up to China 'spies'. Asia Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  9. ^ Beijing Denies Involvement in China Spy Case. VOA (April 01 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  10. ^ Frontline (January 15 2004). From China With Love. PBS. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  11. ^ Geis, Sonya (May 25 2006). FBI Officials Are Faulted In Chinese Spying Case. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  12. ^ Macartney, Jane (December 05 2007). China hits back at 'slanderous and prejudiced' alert over cyber spies. The Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  13. ^ Barnes, Julian E. (March 04 2008). China's computer hacking worries Pentagon. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
  14. ^ Brookes, Peter (March 13 2008). Flashpoint: The Cyber Challenge: Cyber attacks are growing in number and sophistication. Family Security Matters. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  15. ^ McElroy, Damien (July 03 2005). China aims spy network at trade secrets in Europe. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  16. ^ Report: China spies threaten U.S. technology. CNN (November 15 2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  17. ^ US man jailed in China 'spy' case. Al Jazeera (March 24 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  18. ^ Ward, Olivia (June 06 2007). Ex-envoy warns of Chinese spies. Toronto Star. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.

[edit] External links