China own spying Adopting new methods to strengthen the network. According to the intelligence report of Five Eyes countries, Chinese intelligence officers are recruiting people through LinkedIn. According to the report, China has contacted more than 20 thousand people in Britain through LinkedIn. After Britain, China also has its eyes on America and Canada. In the report, European countries have been advised to strengthen their surveillance and security systems to deal with the intelligence threats emanating from China.
According to CBS News, in the last 5 years, 140 people were arrested from America who were accused of spying for China. Recently, the US Justice Department has arrested the Mayor of California on charges of spying for China.
Why is China preparing a spy network?
Speaking to CBS News, former US diplomat Jim Lewis said that when Xi Jinping became the President of China, he planned to strengthen the country’s spy network. At that time Jinping had talked about gaining an edge over America and Europe through espionage. According to Lewis, at a meeting of officials in 2012, Jinping said, “The people of Europe and America are weak-minded, I will defeat them.”
Jim Lewis further said that at least 6 lakh people work in China’s intelligence agencies. According to him, this number is equal to the total network of American intelligence agencies. Recently, when President Donald Trump visited China, US officials were barred from taking their personal phones and laptops with them to avoid the risk of spying.
Not only this, when Trump’s delegation was returning to America, all the gifts given to the guests were left in China. From this it can be estimated how much fear American officials have of China’s intelligence agencies.
How is China preparing spies in Europe-US?
According to the report of Five Eyes Country, China’s intelligence agents first issue recruitment in the form of job advertisement. These recruitments are posted on LinkedIn and other employment sites. Those who apply for this, strong scrutiny is done.
People from families associated with government and army are given preference in interviews. They are called for interview and then they are contacted. Under this process, 20 thousand people of Britain were contacted. During interviews, people are encouraged to spy.
The report does not mention how many spies China has recruited in America and Europe.
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