Chinese citizens visiting different countries as tourists, students, and working professionals have been found to be spying for the Beijing government.
This has raised alarm among several nations as the civilian Chinese spies pose serious threats to intellectual rights and national security.
US authorities came across Chinese tourists infiltrating military bases in the country and even carrying drones to the army installation in Alaska’s Fort Wainwright.
David Deptula, former senior intelligence officer, said the sensors left behind by these tourists can be used to collect sensitive information.
One Chinese tourist had infiltrated the House of Commons in the UK when dissidents from Hong Kong were holding a briefing in a well-guarded committee room.
Hong Kong campaigner Finn Lau said the Chinese tourist was a spy of the Beijing government.
“This is one of the remotest committee rooms in Parliament. And it is on the top floor. It is not a coincidence that a random Chinese tourist was outside the room at the exact right time and was attempting to access the event,” he said.
US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said “Certainly encouraging citizens to spy on each other is something that’s of great concern.”
Three Chinese tourists were arrested by the Indian authorities in 2011 after they were found clicking pictures of military camps.
While China denied they were spies, India claimed these tourists did not have valid passports or visas.
Investigations revealed these tourists were employees of Huawei Technologies, which many countries now have alleged to be involved in espionage on behalf of the communist party government of China.
In 2020, a Chinese woman was caught in India for espionage. A Chinese woman named Qing Shi was running two companies in New Delhi, which were registered in the name of two Chinese persons named Jhang and Chang-li-lia.
Qing was found to be sending information on Indian army movements, defence acquisitions, foreign policy and Dalai Lama to China.
In 2022, Indian police detained a Chinese tourist named Song Xiaolan near Bodh Gaya, who was believed to be a Chinese spy and a potential threat to Dalai Lama.
Chinese students and scientists are found to be involved in spying activities.
Even American universities are infiltrated by Chinese spies, said intelligence officials.
Explaining the modus operandi, Paul Moore, a former China analyst for the FBI, said, “The Chinese would send in a thousand tourists, each assigned to collect a single grain of sand. When they returned, they would be asked to shake out their towels.
“No country poses a greater, more severe or long-term threat to our national security and economic prosperity than China,” said a top FBI agent, Joseph Bonavolonta.
The Chinese government has been encouraging its citizen to spy, which is often supported by rewards.
“Enhance the mechanism for reporting espionage by legally commending, rewarding and protecting individuals and organizations who report espionage,” said a note by the Chinese Ministry of State Security which oversees intelligence in China and abroad.
US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said “Certainly encouraging citizens to spy on each other is something that’s of great concern.”
The British authorities forced 50 Chinese students to leave the country as a part of efforts to prevent sensitive data theft and espionage.
A Chinese student named Ji Chaoqun, who studied electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was sentenced to 8-years in jail for spying for the Chinese government by gathering information on engineers and scientists in the US.
“Chinese espionage also created immeasurable damage to national security with the theft of weapons technology, including nuclear weapons test data. In the last few years, China has added the theft of massive quantities of personal information (PII), political coercion, and influence operations, to its espionage activities,” CSIS said.
FBI director Christopher Wray said China was trying to steal technology through Chinese students doubling as spy agents.
“We consistently see that it’s the Chinese government that poses the biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security,” he said.
In 2020, a few Chinese students were caught taking pictures of government buildings in Florida’s naval base at regular intervals.
Explaining the modus operandi, Paul Moore, a former China analyst for the FBI, said, “The Chinese would send in a thousand tourists, each assigned to collect a single grain of sand. When they returned, they would be asked to shake out their towels.
And they would end up knowing more about the sand than anyone else.”
Washington-based Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) has documented 224 instances of spying by Chinese since 2000.
These activities involved military, political, and commercial espionage as well as attempts to influence US politics.
“Chinese espionage also created immeasurable damage to national security with the theft of weapons technology, including nuclear weapons test data. In the last few years, China has added the theft of massive quantities of personal information (PII), political coercion, and influence operations, to its espionage activities,” CSIS said.
(Source: Various international media outlets)
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