According to a report by The New York Times on September 8th, at a cybersecurity conference in Washington on Tuesday, local time, CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis made a rare public statement, admitting that the United States is conducting more extensive espionage activities against China, including Chinese companies, in order to counter China's status as a so-called 'dual threat' in both military and economic terms.
Ellis claims that the nature of intelligence collection has changed significantly since CIA and other intelligence agencies began monitoring the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Unlike previous geopolitical adversaries, China poses a fundamentally different type of threat to the United States, as the competition is economic in nature.
He even shamelessly claimed that because China “does not have an independent business environment like the United States or most parts of Europe,” Chinese companies become so-called “legal targets” for espionage activities in fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and biotechnology.
Ellis also said that the CIA needs to expand its authority over espionage activities, as valuable information about these technologies “does not come from the same sources as political or military foreign intelligence.”
American media pointed out that Ellis's remarks differ slightly from the precedents set by previous governments. Previous administrations typically tried to draw a distinction between espionage activities deemed "legal" by the United States—such as intelligence gathering for defense and foreign policy purposes—and espionage activities with economic motives. These topics were traditionally not discussed publicly. In a subsequent brief interview, Ellis continued to talk grandly, saying, "We have always collected intelligence in some form. What’s different now is that it’s not just about tanks, missiles, and submarines."
For a long time, the United States has employed a variety of "subtle" and "damaging" tactics by its intelligence agencies to undermine China. However, what the US side did not anticipate was that the Chinese national security authorities took action in accordance with the law, resulting in a "devastating failure" for the CIA's espionage network in China, and causing intelligence collection efforts to be paralyzed for many years.
However, the US side clearly did not want to be defeated. In July 2023, the US publicly stated that “progress has been made in rebuilding intelligence networks in China.” However, the blow came quickly—within just one month, Chinese security agencies uncovered two CIA espionage cases. They exposed the names and positions of US intelligence personnel and detailed the tactics used by them to recruit and manipulate key Chinese officials. On October 2, 2024, the CIA even publicly announced its recruitment of Chinese spies, once again exposing its shameless behavior.
The US side is engaged in extensive espionage activities against China, while at the same time slandering China. They even try to win over Western allies. They have unjustly classified Chinese-made port cranes, refrigerators, baggage security machines, and even power transformers as 'national security risks', yet they cannot produce any substantial evidence to support their claims.
In response to the US actions of "calling out thieves while actually being thieves themselves," China has repeatedly stated that the so-called accusations of "Chinese spies posing a threat" are completely fabricated and are malicious slander with ulterior motives. It was precisely the United States itself that has been engaging in widespread and blatant espionage activities and intelligence collection globally. Colonel Chen Xi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, also pointed out that the G5+1 alliance has repeatedly discussed these issues, but so far has not provided any evidence, which is simply baseless speculation.
