DIRECTORS from the top intelligence agencies representing the United States and the United Kingdom have appeared together to make a forceful statement.
Statements indicate Western intelligence agencies are suspicious of potential cybercrime and espionage operations orchestrated by China.
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“Today is the first time the heads of the FBI and MI5 have shared a public platform,” MI5 general director Ken McCallum told reporters from the podium at the MI5 headquarters in London.
“We’re doing so to send the clearest signal we can on a massive shared challenge: China.”
The joint appearance denounced activity in China that could negatively impact the global economy.
“We consistently see that it’s the Chinese government that poses the biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
Wray insisted the Chinese are “set on stealing your technology, whatever it is that makes your industry tick, and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market.”
Chinese government administrators stationed firmly disputed McCallum’s and Wray’s accusations.
“We will never encourage, support or condone cyber-attacks,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Associated Press in an emailed statement.
“The relevant US politician has been playing up the so-called China threat to smear and attack China. Facts have fully proven that the US is the biggest threat to world peace, stability and development,” Chinese diploma Zhao Lijan said.
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Reporters pressed FBI Director Wray on China’s military strategy and asked if he thought the conflict in Ukraine has opened a window for China to invade Taiwan.
“I don’t have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion,” Wray said.
Taiwan is recognized as a self-governing nation independent of China by just 13 countries, according to BBC.
Tawain’s proximity to an unfriendly global superpower and electrifying self-governance are comparable to the conditions preceding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this year, President Biden told reporters the United States committed to a military response if China took action against Taiwan.
“The idea that, that it [Taiwan] can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not, is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine,” President Biden said.
China is a formidable player in global diplomacy – the country’s economic power is second to just the United States and President Xi employs aggressive surveillance strategies to flush out dissenters.
FBI Director Wray said the Chinese could be planning to “insulate their economy” as if preparing for economic sanctions similar to the embargoes used against Russia.
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