On Wednesday, the heads of MI5 and the FBI made their first joint appearance and warned of the growing long-term threat China poses to UK and US interests.
Director-General of MI5 Ken McCallum stated that the organization has already “more than doubled our previously-constrained effort against Chinese activity of concern,” and that it is conducting seven times as many investigations as it did in 2018.
The Chinese government “poses the biggest long-term threat” to economic and national security for the US, the UK, and allies in Europe and elsewhere, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
By meddling in our politics (and those of our allies, I should add), the Chinese government is attempting to shape the world, according to Wray, who claimed that Beijing this year interfered directly in a New York Congressional election in order to prevent the election of a candidate who was a critic and former Tiananmen Square protester.
Wray issued a dire warning, claiming that the Chinese government “is set on stealing your technology” and “poses an even more serious threat to Western businesses than even many sophisticated businesspeople realize.”
According to Wray, the Chinese government’s hacking program is “larger than that of every other major country combined.”
According to McCallum, the UK has cooperated with 37 nations over the past year to help them protect themselves against cyber espionage. In May, the UK also successfully stopped a sophisticated threat that was aimed at vital aerospace companies.
Wray said that China might attempt to annex Taiwan, which it views as a province, and that if that happened, “it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.”
I’m sorry to say that McCallum’s assertion that increased prosperity in China and closer ties to the West would inevitably result in increased political freedom has been disproved.
In response to a query regarding the remarks made by McCallum and Wray, a representative for the Chinese embassy in the UK stated that “the allegations against China by US, and UK intelligence officials are complete without merit and the so-called cases they listed are pure shadow chasing.”
According to the spokesperson, China urged both nations to “have a clear understanding of the trend of the time, abandon the Cold War mentality which has long since gone out of date, stop spreading the “China threat,” and stop provoking conflicts.”
