Perils of ‘Beijing Biden’ era: China’s expanding mass espionage efforts
The problem has become so pervasive that the FBI now opens a Chinese counterintelligence operations roughly every 12 hours ~Congressional House panel
By
The revelations made two years ago that Joe Biden’s family sought to cash in on communist China with millions in payments immediately raised concerns about what Beijing got in return. Now, new evidence unearthed by the U.S. House suggests America’s main adversary may have succeeded in launching a mass espionage blitz on the last administration’s watch.
The House Homeland Security Committee last week painted the contours of China’s surveillance surge, documenting more than 60 espionage operations in 20 states during the Biden administration that unmasked the breadth of Beijing’s efforts to steal America’s intellectual property and the tools of its military might.
In addition, lawmakers confirmed the Chinese spy balloon that embarrassed the Biden administration two years ago when it traversed U.S. airspace for days unimpeded likely contained technologies from multiple U.S. companies, illustrating how Beijing even uses U.S. friendships to gain advantage.
“There are still people who see China like we used to see it as an economic partner. They are not that. They are an enemy,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green told Just the News.
Tougher export controls
Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping “want to see China at the top of the international world order. And they want to see the international world order working to advantage China. So if they can get that through theft of intellectual property, or they can create disruption inside our own country, they’re going to do that,” Green said during a wide-ranging interview with the John Solomon Reports podcast.
Green has taken the lead in educating colleagues on all the intelligence about China’s effort to steal U.S. ingenuity and technology and recently re-introduced legislation called the “China Technology Transfer Control Act,” which imposes tougher export controls designed to keep China’s military from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology.
His proposed law would augment the traditional review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States with an additional export license for any transfer of sensitive U.S. technology or assets, creating a second layer of review. Green said he is concerned bureaucrats have been too lax in approving sales to China that come back to hurt U.S. interests.
“The China balloon that came over, and all the tech that’s on that, we want to restrict that,” he explained. The required license would be “sort of a second step after the CFIUS nod, and it forces the bureaucracy to look at these guys. They’re missing right now, CFIUS and the others are missing,” he
Green also applauded states like Texas and Virginia that have restricted use of Chinese apps like TikTok and DeepSeek AI that can collect valuable data on Americans without protection.
“States need to act. Local governments need to act,” the chairman said. “Local governments are probably more susceptible to the cyber threats that China poses. But really, you know, we need it (vigilance) at all levels. They’ve gotten into our own critical infrastructure and our telecoms,” he continued.
Green’s committee laid bare just some of the extensive efforts by China to steal U.S. secrets or wage oppression on U.S. soil, chronicling more than 60 cases recorded in 20 states that occurred after Biden became president and relaxed some counterespionage efforts against China, including the FBI’s successful program rooting out spies in academia.
Every 12 hours
The report noted that federal prosecutors have lodged Chinese espionage cases in Alabama, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington, demonstrating the sheer breadth of efforts.
You can read that report here.
The 60 cases are in addition to 224 reported incidents of Chinese espionage targeting the U.S. between 2000 and 2023, the report stated.
The problem has become so pervasive that the FBI now opens a Chinese counterintelligence operation roughly every 12 hours. As a result, 80% of the cases opened since 2018 allege that China would benefit, and 60% of trade secret theft cases are linked to China, the report said.
That’s why recently departed FBI Director Christopher Wray called China’s espionage the “greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality.”
Cases over the last three months, the report said, show just how aggressive China has become:
- Leon Ding, a Chinese national, was indicted Feb. 4 on additional charges he stole AI secrets from Google. According to the superseding indictment, he allegedly uploaded over 1,000 files containing confidential company information into his personal Google Cloud account from May 2022 through May 2023.
- In December, Chen Jinping, a resident of New York City, pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in connection with opening and operating an undeclared overseas police station in lower Manhattan for China’s Ministry of Public Security.
- Also in December, Yinpiao Zhou, a Chinese citizen and lawful permanent resident of California, was arrested for allegedly flying a drone over and taking photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base. According to The Los Angeles Times, Zhou later admitted to federal agents that photographing the SpaceX facility at the military base was ‘probably not a good idea,’ court records show.”
Such aggression has shown a growing support for tougher measures on China, including tariffs and a crackdown on Chinese chemicals used by drug cartels to make fentanyl, the lethal and illicit drug.
“We will have to ratchet up the tariffs, but we’ll also have to provide incentives for businesses to leave China and come back to the United States,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Just the News recently.
“Right now, my intelligence from talking to Border Patrol agents is that the these fentanyl labs that you have everything from in garages or to more sophisticated warehouse settings, they almost always come with a Chinese chemist to help them stir up the fentanyl and and produce it.
“So it is time we get tough with China on this issue,” he said.
*********
(TLB) published this report with permission of John Solomon at Just the News. Click Here to read about the staff at Just the News
Header featured image (edited) credit: Org. post content. Emphasis added by (TLB)
••••
••••
Stay tuned tuned…
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Source: TLB
