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C Chinese spying threatens "not only the future of the United States, but the future of the world," a senior FBI official told lawmakers on Wednesday.
"We are being exploited by China, so we are right to strengthen our defenses," said E.W. Priestap, deputy director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, at the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Our efforts should inspire other countries to maintain similar systems. We must convince them to choose freedom, reciprocity and the rule of law. What is at stake is not just the future of the United States, but the future of the world. "
Priestap, due to retire at the end of the month, painted an alarming picture of Chinese espionage, warning that the communist regime is using a panoply of unconventional intelligence resources to steal US secrets from the authorities. and the private sector, urging lawmakers to prepare for "a hyper-competitive world" in which China uses economic flight to reinforce its status as a major international power.
"Make no mistake: the Chinese government is proposes as an alternative model for the world, without a democratic system of government, and it seeks to undermine the order based on free and open rules that we helped to establish after the Second World War. "II, he said in his prepared testimony, "Our businesses and our government must adapt to compete and thrive in this world."
Pri Estap repeatedly invoked the Cold War with the Soviet Union as a model for the US-China rivalry, although he was discouraged from conducting a thorough assessment of the fight. military terms. "The Chinese government understands an essential lesson of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union: economic strength is the foundation of national power," he said. "Competition between the United States and China will be greatly influenced, if not ultimately decided, by the strength of our economies."
His warning echoes the assessment proposed by a senior CIA official in July. "In the end, the Chinese are fundamentally seeking to replace the United States as the world's leading power," said Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA for the Asia Mission Center for Asia. 39, is at the Aspen Security Forum. "What they lead against us is fundamentally a cold war."
Priestap also claimed that FBI director Chris Wray believed that Chinese espionage posed a threat to the whole of society, although he said that all Chinese citizens were not spies.
"That's not to say that every member of society represents the threat, but people from all walks of life – you can not effectively fight this threat with ad hoc responses," he said. "We need more people in government, more people in the business world, more and more academics are going in the same direction to effectively combat this threat."
That said, Chinese spies view students and expatriate workers in the United States as potential assets. "[The intelligence officials]" Simply an extension of their power, of their nation, "said Priestap." Based on the FBI's interactions with some of these people, it is actually a case by case approach. Some, in my opinion, are not at all informed and unwilling to do anything in pursuit of their government's goals. And, whether by direct pressure or by another soft and gentle pressure, they understand that they have the obligation to respect their obligations.
Priestap suggested that the US government coordinate with human rights institutions and corporations, in addition to educating Chinese newcomers, to limit the potential for spying.
"However, we must also ensure that, while correcting the flaws and vulnerabilities of our system, we do not simultaneously undermine the open, free and equitable principles that have made it prosper", he says:
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