dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

FBI Director Wray Addresses Threats Posed to the U.S. by China

February 1, 2022

The Chinese government’s disregard for global leadership norms, ruthless hunger for economic superiority, and desire to influence American politics make it a threat to U.S. national security, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on January 31.

“There is so much good we could do with a responsible Chinese government: crack down on cybercriminals, stop money launderers, reduce opioid overdose deaths. But at the FBI, we’re focused on the reality of the Chinese government today,” Wray said during a keynote address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.

The threat’s complexity is rooted in the intrinsic entanglement of the American and Chinese economies, which is fueled by a high U.S. demand for Chinese-made products and a steady exchange of students between American and Chinese borders. Wray stressed that China has pulled no punches about capitalizing on this inter-connectedness to chase economic superiority.

“When we tally up what we see in our investigations—over 2,000 of which are focused on the Chinese government trying to steal our information or technology—there is just no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, our innovation, and our economic security than China,” Wray said, adding that the Bureau opens a new counterintelligence case against China about twice a day.

China’s strategy is especially dangerous because it pursues economic espionage on multiple fronts—some so subtle that they don’t set off alarms. But once China sets its sights on a technology, Wray explained, it uses every available resource to try to steal it. He pointed to a foiled Chinese plot to use a combination of industrial espionage and hacking to steal trade secrets from GE Aviation to illustrate this approach. This theft not only gives China an unfair advantage in the global marketplace but also directly harms American companies and workers.

Yet the Chinese government’s thirst for power can’t be quenched by economic dominance alone, Wray noted. China also ultimately seeks to undermine and infiltrate the U.S. government and silence dissent whenever possible.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to win American leaders’ loyalty through money or intimidation and “to undermine our democratic process by influencing our elected officials.” Wray said. The CCP is patient in this pursuit, aiming to recruit early-career politicians—often at the state and local level—who can then be called on to do Beijing’s bidding when their power and influence grow.

The Chinese government is also increasingly using a program it calls Fox Hunt to target, threaten, intimidate, and ultimately repatriate former Chinese citizens living overseas whom it sees as a political or financial threat. Many of them are green card holders and naturalized citizens here in the United States. Through Fox Hunt, the Chinese government has sought to intimidate and silence Chinese and Chinese American students who are studying at U.S. universities. If a student voices or posts an opinion critical of the Chinese government, their family members back in China may receive threats.

[Full story below]

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/director-wray-addresses-threats-posed-to-the-us-by-china-020122