The head of the FBI and the leader of the British intelligence agency have issued an unprecedented joint address that has raised a new alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal its technology to gain a competitive advantage.
In a speech at MI5 headquarters in London designed as a show of Western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, sided with MI5 CEO Ken McCallum. Wray reaffirmed long-standing concerns about China’s economic espionage and piracy operations, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to quell dissent abroad.
“We constantly see that it is the Chinese government that poses the greatest long-term threat to our economic and national security, and by ‘ours’, I mean our nations, along with our allies in Europe and elsewhere.” , said Wray.
He told the audience that the Chinese government “was determined to steal your technology, whatever makes your industry work, and use it to undermine your business and dominate your market.”
Ken McCallum said MI5 was conducting seven times more research in China than four years ago and planned to “grow back so much” to deal with widespread attempts at inference that permeate “so many aspects of our national life.” .
“Today is the first time that FBI and MI5 chiefs share a public platform,” McCallum said. “We are doing this to send the clearest signal we can about a massive shared challenge: China.”
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. “It simply came to our notice then. We have to act. “
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, denied the accusations of Western leaders, saying in an emailed statement to the Associated Press that China “strongly opposes and fights all forms of cyberattacks” and described the allegations of unfounded.
“We will never encourage, support or tolerate cyberattacks,” the statement said.
In a look at the current tensions between China and Taiwan, Wray also said during his speech that any takeover by the Taipei force by Beijing “would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions in the world. you’ve never seen. “
Last week, U.S. government director of national intelligence 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 she said Xi appeared to be “pursuing the potential” of such action as part of a broader Chinese government reunification goal with Taiwan.
After the appearance, 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 Ukraine. But, he said, “I have no reason to think that his interest in Taiwan has diminished in any way” and added that he hoped China would have learned what happens “when you exaggerate your hand,” as Russia said.
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 Biden did not outline a change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, an autonomous island that China considers a separatist province that should meet with the continent.
The embassy spokesman said the Taiwan issue was “purely an internal affair of China” and said that when it comes to issues over China’s territory and sovereignty, the country “has no room for commitment or concession “.
“We will fight for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and efforts,” the statement said, although it noted that China “would reserve the option of taking all necessary measures in response to the interference of the foreign forces “.
The Associated Press and Press Association contributed to the reports