{"id":16907,"date":"2022-07-07T19:07:14","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T15:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/?p=16907"},"modified":"2022-07-08T20:57:12","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T16:57:12","slug":"fbi-and-mi5-leaders-give-unprecedented-joint-warning-on-chinese-spying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/fbi-and-mi5-leaders-give-unprecedented-joint-warning-on-chinese-spying\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI and MI5 leaders give unprecedented joint warning on Chinese spying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The head of the\u00a0FBI<\/a>\u00a0and the leader of Britain\u2019s domestic intelligence agency have delivered an unprecedented joint address raising fresh alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a speech at MI5\u2019s London headquarters intended as a show of western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the FBI director, stood alongside the MI5 director general, Ken McCallum. Wray reaffirmed longstanding concerns about economic espionage and hacking operations by China<\/a>, as well as the Chinese government\u2019s efforts to stifle dissent abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe consistently see that it\u2019s the Chinese government that poses the biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security, and by \u2018our\u2019, I mean both of our nations, along with our allies in Europe and elsewhere,\u201d Wray said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the audience the Chinese government was \u201cset on stealing your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry tick, and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken McCallum said MI5<\/a> was running seven times as many investigations into China as it had been four years ago and planned to \u201cgrow as much again\u201d to tackle the widespread attempts at inference which pervade \u201cso many aspects of our national life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday is the first time the heads of the FBI and MI5 have shared a public platform,\u201d McCallum said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing so to send the clearest signal we can on a massive shared challenge: China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCallum said the Chinese government and its \u201ccovert pressure across the globe\u201d amounted to \u201cthe most game-changing challenge we face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis might feel abstract. But it\u2019s real and it\u2019s pressing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to talk about it. We need to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, rejected the allegations from the western leaders, saying in an emailed statement to the Associated Press that China \u201cfirmly opposes and combats all forms of cyber-attacks\u201d and calling the accusations groundless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will never encourage, support or condone cyber-attacks,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about Wray\u2019s comments at a briefing on Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters: \u201cThe relevant US politician has been playing up the so-called China threat to smear and attack China. Facts have fully proven that the US is the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development. We urge this US official to have the right perspective, see China\u2019s developments in an objective and reasonable manner and stop spreading lies and stop making irresponsible remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a nod to current tensions between China and Taiwan, Wray also said during his speech that any forcible takeover of Taipei by Beijing \u201cwould represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the US government\u2019s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said at an event in Washington that there were no indications that Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, was poised to take Taiwan by military force. But she that did say Xi appeared to be \u201cpursuing the potential\u201d for such an action as part of a broader Chinese government goal of reunification with Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the appearance, Wray said he would leave to others the question of whether an invasion of Taiwan was more or less likely after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. But, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion\u201d and added that he hoped China had learned what happens \u201cwhen you overplay your hand\u201d, as he said Russia had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Biden said in May that the US would respond militarily if China invaded Taiwan, offering one of the most forceful White House statements in support of Taiwan\u2019s self-governing in decades. The White House later tried to soften the impact of the statement, saying Biden was not outlining a change in US policy toward Taiwan, a self-governing island that China views as a breakaway province that should be reunified with the mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The embassy spokesman said the Taiwan issue was \u201cpurely China\u2019s internal affair\u201d and said when it came to questions of China\u2019s territory and sovereignty, the country has \u201cno room for compromise or concession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts,\u201d the statement said, though it noted that China would \u201creserve the option of taking all necessary measures in response to the interference of foreign forces\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Associated Press and Press Association contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The head of the\u00a0FBI\u00a0and the leader of Britain\u2019s domestic intelligence agency have delivered an unprecedented joint address raising fresh alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain. In a speech at MI5\u2019s London headquarters intended as a show of western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16909,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16907\/revisions\/16909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geworld.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}