Unprecedented scale: China has created an “army of spies” of 600 thousand people, – WSJ

Unprecedented scale: China has created an “army of spies” of 600 thousand people, – WSJ Polina Buyanova

China is conducting espionage activities on an unprecedented scale/Collage by Channel 24

Beijing is conducting espionage activities on an unprecedented scale, trying to weaken rival states and support the country's economy. To do this, China has formed an army of spies consisting of 600 thousand people.

This is reported in the article by The Wall Street Journal. It is noted there that Western countries do not have the resources to counter such a spy network.

China is conducting espionage activities on an unprecedented scale

China's intelligence operations have already surpassed the KGB's activities during the Cold War in scale. It is worth noting that these operations are of different nature – we are talking about both cyber attacks and scientific or industrial espionage.

According to estimates by one of the European agencies, China's intelligence-gathering operations may involve up to 600,000 people.

China's hacking program is larger than that of all other major countries combined, FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this year.

Since coming to power in 2012, Xi Jinping has increasingly emphasized the “importance of national security” and called on both officials and ordinary citizens to repel threats to the interests of the country. countries.

Interestingly, Beijing previously denied accusations of spying on Western countries, trying to portray China as a target of foreign hackers. However, now the Chinese government has changed tactics and is simply keeping quiet.