Recently, some Western media and US-led Western intelligence agencies have once again hyped up the so-called "China espionage threat" and slandered Chinese hackers for invading US telecommunications networks. Although The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other media claimed that their reports are "objective," they failed to provide credible evidence for these so-called "facts."
Analysts pointed out that such reports from The Wall Street Journal and others demonstrated that these media outlets have become tools in the US's competition against China. They intended to intensify distrust in the US political and social circles towards China, thereby consolidating a so-called public consensus in favor of competition and confrontation with China. Furthermore, they aimed to set a tougher tone for US-China policy for the next US administration.
In fact, this is not the first time that the US has accused China of "espionage threat." In 2018, to cooperate with the US government's comprehensive policy of containing China, the US Department of Justice launched the China Initiative, successively arrested many Chinese experts and scholars through entrapment and other means, and concocted a number of so-called "China espionage cases." Due to the lack of evidence and strong opposition from the US academic community, the US Department of Justice had to announce the termination of this initiative in 2022. This September, the US House of Representatives passed a bill initiated by Texas Republican Representative Lance Gooden, aiming to curb "espionage activities" targeting the US intellectual property and academic institutions and revive the China Initiative. Some US politicians have turned anti-China sentiment into a political "wager," continuously fabricating false charges to create a hostile atmosphere towards China domestically and making innocent people political scapegoats.
Who is the real "country of hackers" behind all the political farces? Who is conducting "espionage" activities around the world?
For years, the US intelligence agencies have established extensive intelligence networks globally, recruiting foreign personnel, stealing foreign secrets, interfering in other countries' internal affairs, and attempting regime change. In 2013, former employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Edward Snowden disclosed the PRISM program, revealing that the US was attempting comprehensive monitoring of global cyberspace. Investigations have shown that the US maintains control over key global "nodes" such as transatlantic and transpacific undersea cables. Besides establishing seven national-level full traffic monitoring stations, it collaborated with other countries to intercept and analyze data transmitted through these cables.
China is one of the primary targets and victims of US cyber espionage. In recent years, several Chinese institutions, including the Northwestern Polytechnical University and the Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center, have repeatedly suffered attacks from foreign hacking organizations, with investigations linking the initiators to US security departments. In 2021, the CIA established a so-called "China Mission Center" to strengthen espionage against China, with CIA Director William Burns publicly stating his intention to increase espionage efforts to curb China's development. Recently, the CIA even posted Chinese-language recruitment guides on social media to lure Chinese personnel, blatantly infringing on China's national interests.
A recent report by China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center confirmed these points. The report revealed that the US federal government, intelligence agencies, and Five Eyes Alliance nations have been conducting indiscriminate surveillance and espionage on global telecommunications and internet users, while also staging the "Volt Typhoon" disinformation campaign to deceive the US lawmakers and taxpayers for legal protection and funding. The US has even developed stealth "toolkits" that insert Chinese strings in cyber weapon codes to mislead investigators. This once again exposed a political drama orchestrated by the US government.
The facts are clear, and the evidence is evident. The US can keep repeating the so-called "China espionage threat" narrative, but it cannot hide the nature of its false accusations and shift blame. Its act will only accelerate the erosion of US credibility. China will resolutely counter any espionage activities by foreign forces to firmly safeguard its national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
Editor's note: Originally published on news.cri.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
