The Chinese Are Destroying Us From Within

“The government of China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seriously threaten the economic well-being, homeland security, and democratic values of the United States (U.S.). Cases of Chinese espionage throughout the U.S. have expanded rapidly with Chinese nationals and non-Chinese individuals acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) allegedly committing a variety of forms of espionage including but not limited to, government, military, and economic espionage.”

The House Committee on Homeland Security CCP Threat Snapshot

The House of Representatives just published a CCP Threat Snapshot highlighting the scope of Chinese intelligence operations inside the United States and the existential threat they pose to the United States. The magnitude of the Chinese effort is breathtaking, yet, for those who have been paying attention old news. The Chinese have been busily undermining our nation from within for many years now, and we are allowing it to happen.

Here are some select quotes from the “Snapshot” just to provide a flavor of what we are confronting:

-       The FBI opens a new case involving Chinese espionage every twelve hours.

-       According to FBI Director Wray: “If each one of the FBI’s cyber agents and intelligence analysts focused exclusively on the China threat, China’s hackers would still outnumber FBI cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1.”

-       69% of counterintelligence incidents were reported after Chinese President Xi took office; 46% of incidents involved cyber espionage, typically by state-affiliated actors; 29% of incidents sought to acquire military technology; and 54% of incidents aimed to acquire commercial technologies. Of these reported incidents: 49% involved Chinese military or government employees; 41% involved private Chinese citizens; and 10% involved non-Chinese actors, often U.S. persons recruited by Chinese officials

This is not theoretical, minor impact stuff. The Chinese are laser-focused on supplanting the United States as the world’s leading power. They understand that to get from here to there they have to come through us, and their intelligence operations are a major part of how they intend to do that.

Take a look at the newest Chinese fighter aircraft and their capabilities.

China's Chengdu J-20 "Mighty Dragon" and the forthcoming Shenyang FC-31 stealth fighters both incorporate stolen design elements from American fighter programs. In fact, a Chinese citizen named Su Bin was ultimately found guilty of conspiring to steal sensitive military information, including the designs for the F-22 and F-35, for the Chinese military.

“Su admitted that he conspired with two persons in China from October 2008 to March 2014 to gain unauthorized access to protected computer networks in the United States – including computers belonging to the Boeing Company in Orange County, California – to obtain sensitive military information and to export that information illegally from the United States to China.”

U.S. Justice Department release. 

Su Bin, who worked in Canada under the name Stephen Su, ran a small company called Lode-Tech. The real purpose of this enterprise was not to turn a profit. It was to provide a platform that allowed Su to cultivate contacts and gain access to networks from which he could steal data. Su provided information on networks to which he had gained access to professional hackers employed by China’s People’s Liberation Army.

These hackers stole more than 630,000 files from Boeing related to the C-17 heavy-lift cargo aircraft. Then the Chinese moved on to bigger fish. They targeted the development of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. Su couldn’t get past Lockheed’s defenses, but he could steal information from the army of contractors and subcontractors working on these programs. To do their jobs, these companies had to have access to the design specifications for the two aircraft.

Over the course of six years, Su and the PLA gained access to tens of thousands of classified files. That amounted to terabytes of data. Su and his compatriots were elated. In one email entered into evidence against Su at his trial, he bragged that the information they stole from the F-22 and F-35 programs would “allow us to rapidly catch up with U.S. levels … To stand easily on the giant’s shoulders.”

Meanwhile, in China, the Chinese rapidly incorporated the design elements stolen by Su into their new fighter aircraft. In effect, thanks to Chinese intelligence the American taxpayers paid to build the Chinese aircraft our pilots will confront in any future war. Just as the Russians stole our atomic bomb plans and built a weapon identical to that we had developed at Los Alamos, the Chinese used us to design their new aircraft.

Initially, Su was facing 30 years in prison for his crimes, but thanks to a plea deal with the prosecution he only received a shorter 46-month sentence. 

Su’s case is not an aberration. It is typical. The Chinese are conducting espionage on our soil all day every day with the express goal of destroying us and becoming the world’s lone superpower. They are stealing military secrets. They are penetrating our critical infrastructure. They are buying our public officials and politicians. We are being destroyed from within and even when we ultimately take action, as with Su, it is far too little, and far too late.