Chinese agents are stepping up their efforts to gain influence over the future administration of Joe Biden. This was warned by the head of the counterintelligence department of the office of the US director of national intelligence, William Evanina.
In his words, this work is being carried out "on steroids" (that is, intensively). The Chinese are carefully studying people close to the new team .
The head of the Department of National Security of the Ministry of Justice, John Demers, said that a total of more than a thousand people suspected of spying for the PRC fled America.
During an online discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute on Wednesday, Evanina said that Chinese intelligence has shown a keen interest in the recent presidential election, as well as in the work in progress in the United States on coronavirus vaccines.
“As we foreseen, there is a growing reorientation of Chinese efforts towards the new administration. This harmful influence, plus the usual diplomatic influence, is aimed not only at those who will work in it, but also at their entourage, ”he said.
“It is very important for the new administration to understand that such attempts to influence exist, to recognize them in appearance and taste. We are working on this, ”he said.
During the election campaign, Joe Biden and Donald Trump mutually accused each other of being exposed to Chinese influence.
Trump pointed to China-related commercial transactions of the son of a rival, Hunter Biden, Biden Sr. - to Trump's account in a Chinese bank .
John Demers said that in the summer of this year, the FBI identified several hundred people among Chinese scientists working in American laboratories who, when receiving scientific visas to the United States, concealed their connection with the Chinese army.
“Five or six people have been arrested, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. To be honest, neither I nor my colleagues had any idea how big it was, ”Demers said.
After the FBI interviewed several dozen people, he said, more than 1,000 Chinese researchers left in a hurry.
According to Demers, only the PRC has "the resources, capabilities and desire" to engage in political and economic espionage "and other harmful activities" on such a scale.
About a thousand more Chinese scientists and students had their visas canceled in September on the initiative of the American side.
The State Department then said that the United States welcomed Chinese students who "do not serve the CCP's military domination goals."
In July, the State Department closed the Chinese consulate in Houston in retaliation for China's embezzlement of intellectual property.
China responded by accusing the US of racial discrimination, but John Demers denied that Chinese students were being discriminated against on a national basis.
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