Bericht: Chinesischer Geheimdienst nimmt UK verstärkt ins Visier

China’s state intelligence apparatus is aggressively targeting the UK, according to a parliamentary committee. The committee criticized the government’s response as inadequate. The report states that China sees the UK as a significant target for espionage and interference due to its close relationship with the US and its membership in international bodies. The committee also warns that China’s ambition to become a global technological and economic superpower poses the greatest risk to the UK. China’s state intelligence apparatus, which is likely the largest in the world, targets the UK and its interests extensively and aggressively.

The committee’s report focuses on the national security threat posed by China, particularly in academia, industry and technology, and civil nuclear energy. It concludes that China seeks to influence elites and decision-makers and acquire information and intellectual property through covert and overt methods. The report highlights China’s use of human intelligence capabilities and sophisticated cyber-espionage operations to achieve its goals. This comes after Microsoft revealed that Chinese hackers breached the email accounts of several US government agencies, and Australian lawmakers reported evolving tactics by Chinese-run fake Facebook accounts to sow discord overseas.

The report also emphasizes China’s „whole-of-state“ approach as a major problem for the UK. Despite disagreements on issues such as Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims, the UK government argues for partnership with China. However, the report accuses China of overstepping boundaries and warns that Chinese companies, academic institutions, and citizens can be co-opted into espionage and interference operations overseas. China’s economic power and influence have allowed it to penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy. The report calls for more coordinated action from the government to address the threat posed by China’s whole-of-state approach, stating that the current level of resources dedicated to tackling this threat is completely inadequate

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China intelligence targets UK ‘prolifically’: report

China‘s state intelligence apparatus targets the UK “prolifically and aggressively” but the government in London’s response has been “completely inadequate”, a parliamentary committee said Thursday. “The UK is of significant interest to China when it comes to espionage and interference, given our close relationship with the United States, membership of international bodies and the perception of the UK as an opinion-former,” said the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). “It is China’s global ambition to become a technological and economic superpower, on which other countries are reliant, that represents the greatest risk to the UK,” it added. “China’s state intelligence apparatus –- almost certainly the largest in the world, with hundreds of thousands of civil intelligence officers -– targets the UK

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