British and US intelligence agencies warned of increased Chinese commercial spying activity in the West, in a rare joint speech at MI5 headquarters in London.
Addressing officials and business executives at Thames House, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and FBI Director Chris Wray said the threat from Chinese spies was growing.
According to McCallum, MI5 has sharply expanded its China-focused operations.
"Today, we are carrying out seven times as many investigations as in 2018," he said, Wednesday (6/7), as quoted by Channel News Asia.
"We plan to expand that much again, while also maintaining significant efforts against covert Russian and Iranian threats," he said.
McCallum said Chinese intelligence was taking a slow and patient approach to developing sources and gaining access to information.
"Hospitality activity is taking place on British soil right now," he said.
"By volume, most of what is at risk from Chinese Communist Party aggression is, so to speak, not mine. It's yours," he said.
"World-leading expertise, technology, research, and commercial excellence developed and held by the people in this space, and others like you," added McCallum.
Wray said the Chinese threat was a "complex, enduring and pervasive danger" to the United States and Britain, and other allies.
China is "prepared to steal your technology, whatever gets your industry moving, and use it to undermine your business and dominate your market," he stressed. Beijing rejects the accusations, describing them as "completely baseless".
"The so-called cases they registered are pure shadow pursuits," a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy to the UK said in a statement posted on their website, as reported by Channel News Asia.
"They spread all kinds of lies about China to tarnish China's political system, fuel anti-China sentiment and exclusion, and divert public attention to cover up their own notorious deeds," he said.
Follow Daily Post on Google News to update information quickly. Thank you for visiting our website..!! Don't forget to share any information to help develop our website..