China already attacks Biden and his entourage, senior espionage official says

• China has started targeting President-elect Joe Biden and his team, a senior US intelligence official warned at an Aspen Institute summit on Wednesday.
• Bill Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said his agency expected the Chinese “to revisit their campaigns to influence the new administration.”
• Evanina didn’t give any details, but said the influence campaign was “on steroids”.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

China has already started targeting President-elect Joe Biden and his team, a senior US intelligence official warned on Wednesday.

Speaking at a panel at the Aspen Institute’s Virtual Cyber ​​Summit, Bill Evanina, director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said his agency had expected the attack and China was leading his operation “on steroids”.

“We have also seen a rise, which was expected and we predicted, that China would now shift its influence campaigns towards the new administration,” he said.

“And when I say that – this malignant foreign influence, this diplomatic influence more or on steroids – we start to see this play out across the country not only for the people who are starting out in the new administration, but also for those around. of those. people, ”he told panel moderator, Wall Street Journal reporter Aruna Viswanatha.

Evanina didn’t give any details, but said her team would work with Biden’s camp to help them identify the attacks.

YouTube / Aspen Institute

“So this is an area where we’re going to be very keen to make sure the new administration understands this influence, what it looks like, what it tastes like, what it feels like when you see it,” a- he declared.

Business Insider has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

Read more: Biden wants to go beyond the Trump era. But the Department of Justice and New York State might not be so ready to play the game.

You can watch the full panel with Evanina and John Demers, the Justice Department’s top national security official, here:

During the panel, Demers said that a recent US crackdown on the theft of technology by Chinese nationals accused of being state agents had led more than 1,000 Chinese researchers to leave the United States.

Under Demers, the DOJ is prosecuting a number of people accused of espionage at the behest of the Chinese government.

One of them, former CIA agent Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, was accused in August of selling secrets to China, including details of how CIA personnel communicate, US weapon systems and the identity of CIA personnel.

Evanina said Wednesday that a large number of Chinese researchers in the United States are “here at the request of the Chinese government.”

Demers added that China is the only nation with “the resources, the capacity and the will” to trouble the United States.

During the panel, Evanina said that the U.S. intelligence sector was successful in downplaying foreign influence in the 2020 election, in stark contrast to 2016.

Ahead of the 2020 election, Evanina said in an Aug. 7 statement that China was working to influence the Nov. 3 election and did not want President Donald Trump to win.

“We believe that China prefers President Trump – whom Beijing considers unpredictable – not to be re-elected,” he said.

“China has stepped up its influence efforts before November 2020 to shape the political environment in the United States, pressure politicians it sees as opposed to China’s interests, and deflect and counter criticism of the China.”

After a notable silence, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally congratulated Biden on his victory in the November 25 election.

“Promoting healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations is not only in the fundamental interest of the two peoples, but also meets the common expectations of the international community,” Xi said.

Biden’s team has already hinted that it will be tough for China when the president-elect takes office. On Wednesday, Jake Sullivan – Biden’s choice for the national security adviser – sent what appeared to be a message of support for Australia amid its ongoing feud with China.