The News
A spate of high-profile cases involving alleged Chinese spies in the UK and the US this year has cast light on efforts by Beijing to obtain Western military and trade secrets through its diaspora.
Counter-espionage efforts are increasingly targeting “non-traditional collectors”: individuals — such as academics, scientists or businesspeople — who are not professional spies but collect sensitive information on behalf of the Chinese government.
The UK recently alleged that Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo had developed relationships with politicians that could be “leveraged” by Beijing, and formed an “unusual degree of trust” with Prince Andrew, while an ex-aide to New York’s governor was charged with spying for China.
The US is expected to ramp up efforts to counter Chinese intelligence-gathering with the return of President-elect Donald Trump, who warned on the campaign trail that authorities “will be hunting down Chinese spies.”
SIGNALS
US’ crackdown on Chinese research community may have backfired
China’s influence operations “often occur in a grey area,” The Economist noted: Diaspora groups involved in political organizing, for example, only qualify as “foreign agents” if they receive funding or instruction from Beijing. The US has been heavy-handed in its response to the perceived threat, namely via the now-abandoned China Initiative, a program to prosecute possible spies involved in US research or industry. This likely worsened diaspora members’ distrust toward the US government — and a bill to revive it as the CCP Initiative risks driving “more members of the diaspora into [the Chinese Communist Party’s] hands,” the outlet argued. It’s also contributed toward a brain drain as many academics of Chinese descent say they no longer feel welcome in the US, which could “deny the USA access to the world’s best science and technology talent,” the MIT Technology Review reported.
London struggles to balance business interests with lawmaker concerns
Revelations over Prince Andrew’s links to a Chinese businessman accused of spying — allegations he denies — have renewed calls for the UK to designate China a threat to national security, the BBC reported. They have also crystallized what has long been a “major dilemma” for London, a China expert wrote for Chatham House earlier this year: How to balance business interests with the concerns of lawmakers, many of whom are suspicious about China’s intentions. Like in the US, an atmosphere of distrust is having a “chilling effect” on China experts, precisely the people needed to help navigate UK-China relations going forward, a columnist argued in Prospect Magazine.