Ravi Nayyar on Nostr: 'Unlike those in Western democracies, China’s intelligence services are not held to ...
'Unlike those in Western democracies, China’s intelligence services are not held to account by independent political bodies or the public, nor are they subject to the rule of law. Instead, the Chinese government fuses together a “whole of society” approach for collecting intelligence. This sets it apart from anything undertaken by Western governments. Chinese intelligence and commerce are integrated in ways without comparison in the West. Contrary to what may be thought, the U.S. government does not conduct industrial espionage to advantage U.S. businesses. In China, by contrast, thanks to successive national security legislation passed under President Xi Jinping, Chinese businesses are required to work with its intelligence services whenever requested to do so. They are effectively silent partners in Chinese commerce with the outside world.
'Another difference between Chinese intelligence and Western powers concerns what those in the spy world call ubiquitous technical surveillance. Facial recognition, phone apps, and CCTV all make China an infinitely harder target for Western agencies to collect intelligence on than Chinese services’ targets in open Western democracies. A fundamental asymmetry thus exists in the shadowy intelligence battles between China and the West.
'The Cold War offers two warnings. First, Chinese spies are real in the same way Soviet agents were real. An uncomfortable public policy conversation is urgently needed about the nature of Chinese students, academics, and businesspeople—some of whom may have malign intentions—as well as talent programs and cultural outreach programs in the United States. But that does not mean that Americans who happen to be of Chinese heritage are spies, any more so than left-leaning Americans were Soviet agents. [100%.]
'Second, sunlight is the best disinfectant. The U.S. government must be transparent about its knowledge of Chinese intelligence. If such information is not forthcoming—and scrutinized, debated, and challenged—there is a real prospect of another McCarthyite witch hunt. Today, Chinese Americans are often the victims of the Chinese government and its intelligence services. Finding the balance between security and civil liberties is our challenge ahead. China will continue to spy, using all means available—balloons, businesses, and bytes. We need to determine what trade-offs we are willing to put up with between security and civil liberties'. [100%.]
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/28/china-has-been-waging-a-decades-long-all-out-spy-war/
'Another difference between Chinese intelligence and Western powers concerns what those in the spy world call ubiquitous technical surveillance. Facial recognition, phone apps, and CCTV all make China an infinitely harder target for Western agencies to collect intelligence on than Chinese services’ targets in open Western democracies. A fundamental asymmetry thus exists in the shadowy intelligence battles between China and the West.
'The Cold War offers two warnings. First, Chinese spies are real in the same way Soviet agents were real. An uncomfortable public policy conversation is urgently needed about the nature of Chinese students, academics, and businesspeople—some of whom may have malign intentions—as well as talent programs and cultural outreach programs in the United States. But that does not mean that Americans who happen to be of Chinese heritage are spies, any more so than left-leaning Americans were Soviet agents. [100%.]
'Second, sunlight is the best disinfectant. The U.S. government must be transparent about its knowledge of Chinese intelligence. If such information is not forthcoming—and scrutinized, debated, and challenged—there is a real prospect of another McCarthyite witch hunt. Today, Chinese Americans are often the victims of the Chinese government and its intelligence services. Finding the balance between security and civil liberties is our challenge ahead. China will continue to spy, using all means available—balloons, businesses, and bytes. We need to determine what trade-offs we are willing to put up with between security and civil liberties'. [100%.]
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/28/china-has-been-waging-a-decades-long-all-out-spy-war/