Ken McCallum, the director of the UK’s MI5, said on Wednesday that the Chinese government’s “covert pressure around the world” amounted to “the most game-changing challenge we face”, while Chris Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), warned Western companies that Beijing was determined to steal their technology for competitive gain. China immediately dismissed the accusations as “baseless”, calling them an attempt to “slander” its political system. McCallum and Wray’s joint speech was held at Thames House, London, with dignitaries and business executives in attendance. The Chinese threat “may be abstract. But it is real and pressing,” McCallum said. “We need to talk about it. We must act.” He said MI5 had sharply expanded its China-focused activities. “Today we conduct seven times as many investigations as we did in 2018,” he said. “We intend to deploy the same again, while maintaining a significant effort against the covert threats of Russia and Iran.” McCallum said Chinese intelligence takes a slow and patient approach to developing sources and gaining access to information, and few of those targeted identified themselves as such. “Hostile activity is occurring on UK soil at the moment,” he said. “By and large, most of what is at risk from the aggression of the Chinese Communist Party is not, so to speak, my stuff. It’s yours – the world’s leading expertise, technology, research and commercial advantage developed and held by people in this room and others like you.” FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would create “horrendous disruption” to business [File: Bonnie Cash/Pool via AP] The FBI director echoed that message, calling China’s actions a “complex, persistent and pervasive danger” to the US, the UK, and other allies. Wray said China “is out to steal your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry stand out, and use it to undermine your business and dominate your market.”
“Horrible riots”
Analysts were divided on the joint address, with some calling it late, while others said it amounted to a “grand position.” Robert Potter, Co-CEO of Australian and US cyber security firm Internet 2.0, said it was essential for the public to accurately understand the threat posed by China. “For too long, the security culture of these agencies has left the public without context as to what is really going on. There is a need for these agencies to share their intelligence with the private sector and the wider public, as China’s targeting is much broader than just intelligence services,” he said. “China has engaged in industrial espionage on an unprecedented scale. Whatever criticisms one might make of US or Australian agencies, they are not out there to steal pharmaceutical patents for their partners in the private sector.” However, Troy Hunt, a cyber security expert and regional director for Microsoft in Australia, said there was no threat to the wider global public from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “To be honest, I don’t think, certainly at the consumer level, we really need to do anything different other than follow all the good advice that we’ve had for so long,” he said. “Certainly those who are most likely to be targeted by something like the KKK regime…[should] to be much more aware and much more concerned, but I don’t think that’s really a problem that should concern the masses on an individual level.” During the debate at Thames House, Wray also referred to China’s promises to unite with Taiwan, either peacefully or by force if necessary. He warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory, would cause “one of the most horrific” disruptions to global trade and industry, and said there were signs that the Chinese, perhaps learning from Russia’s experience since the war, they have sought ways to “insulate their economy” against potential sanctions. In the event of a Chinese invasion, “just as in Russia, Western investments built up over the years could be held hostage, capital blocked [and] Supply chains and relationships were disrupted,” Wray said. Last week, the US government’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said at an event in Washington that there was no indication that Chinese President Xi Jinping was ready to take military action against Taiwan. But he said Xi appeared to be “pursuing the possibility” of such action as part of a broader Chinese government goal of unification. The Chinese embassy in London dismissed McCallum and Wray’s accusations as “totally baseless”. “The so-called cases they listed are shadow stalking,” a spokesman said in a statement posted on the mission’s website. “They spread all kinds of lies about China to smear China’s political system, inflame anti-China and anti-blockade sentiment, and divert public attention in order to cover up their own infamous acts.” The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, also told the Associated Press news agency in a statement that the Taiwan issue was “purely China’s internal matter.” “We will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts,” the statement said, although it noted that China “will reserve the option to take all necessary measures in response to the intervention of foreign powers.”
