US-China spy wars intensify under Trump 2.0 as tech competition heats up

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week arrested a suspected Chinese hacker for allegedly stealing sensitive American research on Covid-19 vaccines in 2020, the head of America’s top law enforcement agency hailed the episode as “manhunting” the Chinese Communist Party.

“The CCP’s relentless attacks on our institutions will not go unanswered,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on social media.

“The FBI will hunt down those who threaten our national security – wherever they hide,” he wrote, adding, “huge … manhunting the CCP.”

Then, soon after the FBI announced taking 33-year-old Chinese national Xu Zewei into custody at Milan’s Malpensa Airport, China’s Ministry of State Security made a similarly dramatic announcement, saying it had disrupted three foreign espionage plots. It also warned government workers to remain alert.

In one of the cases publicised by the MSS, a provincial official identified as “Li” was allegedly seduced by a foreign intelligence agent while abroad, then blackmailed, using intimate photos, and coerced into stealing “confidential” documents when back in China.

“Foreign spies have become increasingly aggressive in infiltrating China and stealing secrets,” the MSS said in a statement that did not name any particular country but blamed “a weakened sense of discipline” among officials for recent lapses.