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China has established eight National Intelligence Colleges in major universities

China approach to espionage is best summed up by a vacuum cleaner sucking everything up! To make matters worse the problem is growing worse every year...
China approach to espionage is best summed up by a vacuum cleaner sucking everything up! To make matters worse the problem is growing worse every year...
the-diplomat.com

During the last four years, China has established eight National Intelligence Colleges in major universities. In effect, each of these is an "Espionage Department" at these universities, where, each year, about 300 carefully selected applicants are accepted, to be trained as spies and intelligence operatives, according to an article called: “China Sends In The Professionals” http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20120502.aspx

If you do the math (300 X 8 ) you get 2400 x 4 or 9600 spies every four years. This gives you an idea of just how serious the problem of Chinese espionage is. Many of these same student spies are expected to make a career out of stealing western secrets, including military and technological secrets.

A THOUSAND GRAINS OF SAND

The "thousand grains of sand" approach, perhaps best describes China’s approach to spying and espionage. The idea is to get everybody you can involved, including the thousands of Chinese students who attend universities, as well as US naturalized students to spy for China.

The article also points out how massive China’s spying apparatus is. Chinese intelligence bureaucracy back home have nearly “100,000 people” working just to keep track of the many Chinese overseas, and what they could or should, be trying to spy for China. Indeed this is where many of the graduates of the National Intelligence College program will work.

First step first: Chinese intelligence officials examine who is going overseas and for what purpose. Chinese citizens cannot leave the country legally without the state security organizations being notified. The names are collected and background information is assembled. Just in case Chinese intelligence wants to have a talk with students, tourists, or business people before they leave the country or when they come back as well.

Estimates range, but the article suggest over 100,000 Chinese students go off to foreign universities each year. Even more go abroad on work visas, as tourists or on business.

Most of these people were never asked to actually act as “spies” but simply to share, with Chinese government officials (who are not always identified as intelligence personnel) whatever information they obtained. The information is then assessed for intelligence value and if necessary spies are dispatched to collect the information.

China is also believed to have a network of spies operating out of its embassies around the world, particularly the United States. Here the spies, operating under diplomatic cover recruit and train other spies and operatives for long term undercover assignments. Many are scientists and engineers, who apply and are granted US citizenship in many cases.

It’s a massive operation that vacuums up intelligence on a scale unbelievable to imagine.

The US has nothing like it and China is the world’s leader on human intelligence gathering or HUMINT. The US relies more on technological collection of intelligence, by the National Security Agency or “NSA”.

According to Wikipedia:

“The Chinese operate in ways that take advantage of U.S. laws to avoid prosecution. The PRC uses a vast network of agents and contacts to collect pieces of information that are collated and put together in the PRC. Often each individual piece is not enough to warrant any suspicion or prosecution from U.S. government personnel. The aggressiveness of Chinese penetration is well documented in multiple espionage cases including those of Larry Wu-Tai Chin, Katrina Leung, Gwo-Bao Min, Chi Mak, and Peter Lee. In addition to traditional espionage, the PRC uses civilian companies to partner with American businesses in order to acquire advanced technology and economic data. Additionally, the PRC utilizes cyber-espionage to penetrate the computer networks of U.S. businesses and government agencies. This is evidenced by a recent Chinese cyber-attack on Google's computer systems in December 2009. PRC intelligence operations in the United States have become so pervasive that U.S. law enforcement officials have identified China as the most active foreign power involved in illegal acquisition of American technology.”

CHINA'S VACUUM CLEANER APPROACH TO ESPIONAGE

How bad is the problem? A 1999 report of the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military and Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, known as the Cox Report, warned that the PRC has stolen classified information on every thermonuclear warhead in the U.S. ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) arsenal (source: U.S. Department of Defense, Annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China, Washington, DC: July 2007, p. 29.).

Each year the problem seems to grow and the US is defenseless to combat it. It doesn’t matter if we double the size of the FBI we still couldn’t beat the Chinese at the espionage game they play.

In addition the US is heavily indebted to the Chinese, which purchases our debt, that we are required to pay back with interest.

Let’s face it China is a huge threat to the US. It is time we recognize that threat.

Robert Tilford

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