FBI and MI5 leaders have teamed up to warn that China poses the greatest long-term threat to the security of the US, the UK and its allies.
Key points:
- China’s “covert pressure” is “the most game-changing challenge in the world,” says FBI Director Christopher Wray.
- The Chinese embassy rejected the accusation
- US officials say Chinese President Xi Jinping is “pursuing the potential” to invade Taiwan
FBI Director Christopher Wray reaffirmed long-standing concerns about denouncing China’s economic espionage and piracy operations, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to quell dissent abroad.
But his speech was notable because it took place at the London headquarters of MI5 and alongside the director general of the British intelligence agency, Ken McCallum, in a show of Western solidarity.
“We constantly see that it is the Chinese government that poses the greatest long-term threat to our economic and national security, and to‘ ours, ’I mean our two nations, along with our allies in Europe and elsewhere. said Wray. .
Christopher Wray says China’s pressure around the world is “the challenge that most changes the game we face.” (AP: Mandel Ngan / Piscina)
McCallum said the Chinese government and its “covert pressure around the world” posed “the challenge that most changes the game we face.”
“That may sound abstract. But it’s real and it’s urgent,” he said.
“We have to talk about it. We have to act.”
Separately, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called on China to show “restraint” in its dealings with smaller countries in the region, during a major political speech in Singapore.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, denied the accusations of the MI5 and the FBI, saying in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that China “strongly opposes and fights all form of cyber attacks “and called the allegations unfounded.
“We will never encourage, support or approve of cyberattacks,” the statement said.
At a glance at the current tensions between China and Taiwan, Mr. Wray also said during his speech that any takeover by force in Taipei by Beijing “would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.”
Ken McCallum joined Mr. Wray in a show of Western solidarity against China. (Supplied by: UK Government)
Last week, U.S. government national intelligence director Avril Haines said at an event in Washington that there were no indications that Chinese President Xi Jinping was willing to take Taiwan by military force.
But he did say Mr Xi appeared to be “pursuing the potential” of this action as part of a broader Chinese government goal of reunification with Taiwan.
After appearing with his British counterpart, Wray said he would leave to others the question of whether an invasion of Taiwan was more or less likely after the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
But, he said, “I have no reason to think that his interest in Taiwan has diminished in any way.”
He added that he hoped China would have learned what happens “when you exaggerate your hand,” as he said the Russians had done in Ukraine.
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The FBI director said there were indications that the Chinese, perhaps drawing lessons from Russia’s experience since the war, had been looking for ways to “isolate their economy” against possible sanctions.
“In our world, we call this behavior a clue,” he said.
He also called for caution from Western companies seeking to do business in or with China, saying Western investment could collapse in the event of an invasion of Taiwan.
“As in Russia, Western investments built over the years could become hostages, capital stranded [and] supply chains and disrupted relationships, ”he said.
President Joe Biden said in May that the U.S. would respond militarily if China invaded Taiwan, offering one of the White House’s strongest statements in support of Taiwan’s self-government in decades.
The White House later tried to soften the impact of the statement, saying Mr. Biden did not outline a change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, an autonomous island that China considers a separatist province that should be reunited. with the continent.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said the Taiwan issue was “purely an internal affair of China” and said that when it came to issues over China’s territory and sovereignty, the country “had no room for to commitments or concessions “.
“We will fight for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and efforts,” the statement said, although it noted that China “will reserve the option to take all necessary measures in response to the interference of the foreign forces “.
ABC / AP