Jim Kouri
Chinese president boasts of new Stealth fighter jet
China gains advanced weapons technology through espionage
By Jim Kouri
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is expected to visit with President Barack Obama next week, boasted that China's military tested its first Stealth fighter jet, according to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that he was told by the Chinese leader that the maiden test-flight of the advanced fighter jet wasn't connected to his visit to the Chinese capital of Beijing. In a series of Internet postings, Chinese citizens were told that their nation successfully flew a J-20 stealth fighter jet that promises to rival anything that exists in the United States.
While the Obama White House desires stronger military contacts as one of the tangible gains it hopes to win from Chinese President Hu's visit to Washington next week, he is not expected to address the rampant Chinese espionage within the U.S. military and private-sector corporations such as Lockheed-Martin and Boeing.
The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain's MI5 suspect upwards of 15 foreign intelligence services are working within the UK and are a threat to the United Kingdom's interests, and the primary focus of their counterespionage efforts are the Chinese and Russians.
Using many of the same methods the Japanese used in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese are interested in any and all information that may give them a leg up in the competitive global economy as well as increasing their military prowess.
In spite of repeated warnings to businesses, companies in the US and UK continue to hire Chinese workers without conducting thorough background investigations or verifying previous employment.
Chinese government officials and businessmen are proven aggressive in their attempts to find out everything about how Western companies operate and how they are structured. It is old-fashioned human intelligence gathering — it's thousands of years old and it works. Taking a page out of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," they believe intelligence operations will give them the victory they seek, whether in terms of military strength or industrial success.
Using tactics such as sending visiting delegations of Chinese businessmen, the spies are able to penetrate what little security companies employ to thwart theft of information.
One British firm eager to develop its business with China recently invited a delegation to visit its UK factory, according to The Guardian. The Chinese authorities sent a delegation, but only a few of them turned up. The rest were believed to have traveled around Britain inviting themselves to defense and research establishments. Again, they were able to penetrate the security measures in place at these facilities.
As with the 20th Century Japanese spies in the US, the 21st Century Chinese spies are interested mostly in scientific and high-tech developments. Their economy is said to be booming while at the same time there is a serious shortage in information technology and modern processing, manufacturing and design skills.
MI5 is also concerned over the loyalties of Chinese who are UK citizens or legal immigrants. Intelligence officers claim these workers may have mixed loyalties and strong ties to China.
The FBI is alarmed about the impact of foreign spies within the United States, especially Chinese operatives. As with businesses in the United Kingdom, American companies seem to pay little attention to corporate espionage, putting most of their security budget into protection against terrorist attacks.
The FBI are suspicious of Russia, Iran, and North Korea but have focused mostly on the Chinese. The feds estimate that the are over 2,600 Chinese front companies in the US.
US and UK security experts believe that when nations such as China and Russia saw the speed and effectiveness with which the US conducted the invasion of Iraq, they decided widespread espionage operations were necessary to keep up with the world's sole superpower.
© Jim Kouri
January 11, 2011
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is expected to visit with President Barack Obama next week, boasted that China's military tested its first Stealth fighter jet, according to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that he was told by the Chinese leader that the maiden test-flight of the advanced fighter jet wasn't connected to his visit to the Chinese capital of Beijing. In a series of Internet postings, Chinese citizens were told that their nation successfully flew a J-20 stealth fighter jet that promises to rival anything that exists in the United States.
While the Obama White House desires stronger military contacts as one of the tangible gains it hopes to win from Chinese President Hu's visit to Washington next week, he is not expected to address the rampant Chinese espionage within the U.S. military and private-sector corporations such as Lockheed-Martin and Boeing.
The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain's MI5 suspect upwards of 15 foreign intelligence services are working within the UK and are a threat to the United Kingdom's interests, and the primary focus of their counterespionage efforts are the Chinese and Russians.
Using many of the same methods the Japanese used in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, the Chinese are interested in any and all information that may give them a leg up in the competitive global economy as well as increasing their military prowess.
In spite of repeated warnings to businesses, companies in the US and UK continue to hire Chinese workers without conducting thorough background investigations or verifying previous employment.
Chinese government officials and businessmen are proven aggressive in their attempts to find out everything about how Western companies operate and how they are structured. It is old-fashioned human intelligence gathering — it's thousands of years old and it works. Taking a page out of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," they believe intelligence operations will give them the victory they seek, whether in terms of military strength or industrial success.
Using tactics such as sending visiting delegations of Chinese businessmen, the spies are able to penetrate what little security companies employ to thwart theft of information.
One British firm eager to develop its business with China recently invited a delegation to visit its UK factory, according to The Guardian. The Chinese authorities sent a delegation, but only a few of them turned up. The rest were believed to have traveled around Britain inviting themselves to defense and research establishments. Again, they were able to penetrate the security measures in place at these facilities.
As with the 20th Century Japanese spies in the US, the 21st Century Chinese spies are interested mostly in scientific and high-tech developments. Their economy is said to be booming while at the same time there is a serious shortage in information technology and modern processing, manufacturing and design skills.
MI5 is also concerned over the loyalties of Chinese who are UK citizens or legal immigrants. Intelligence officers claim these workers may have mixed loyalties and strong ties to China.
The FBI is alarmed about the impact of foreign spies within the United States, especially Chinese operatives. As with businesses in the United Kingdom, American companies seem to pay little attention to corporate espionage, putting most of their security budget into protection against terrorist attacks.
The FBI are suspicious of Russia, Iran, and North Korea but have focused mostly on the Chinese. The feds estimate that the are over 2,600 Chinese front companies in the US.
US and UK security experts believe that when nations such as China and Russia saw the speed and effectiveness with which the US conducted the invasion of Iraq, they decided widespread espionage operations were necessary to keep up with the world's sole superpower.
© Jim Kouri
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
