China’s spy campaigns against the U.S. and Western allies are overwhelming governments

The scale of Chinese espionage in the U.S. and in other Western nations is beginning to overwhelm governments, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, spy activities are happening on an “unprecedented scale,” which includes the Chinese government recruiting private companies, Chinese civilians, and security agencies to undermine its competitors and strengthen China’s economy.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated that in the month of September alone, a Chinese state-linked firm hacked approximately 260,000 devices connected to the internet – including cameras and routers located in the U.S., the U.K., France, Romania, and other nations.

In January, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a congressional hearing the Chinese intelligence-gathering and security operations could be made of at least 600,000 people, outnumbering the FBI’s cyber personnel by 50 to 1.

“China’s hacking program is larger than that of every other major nation, combined,” Wray said during the hearing.

Wray noted during his opening remarks to legislators that the Chinese pose a huge threat to U.S. infrastructure, which was going largely ignored by the American public.

“There has been far too little public focus on the fact that PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure – our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems … And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now,” Wray said.

Fox News reported five former University of Michigan students who are all Chinese nationals were charged last week after they were allegedly caught covering up spying on a National Guard center, while a Taiwanese military training operation was taking place in Michigan in August 2023.

A sergeant major of the Utah National Guard confronted the former students when they were caught photographing near Camp Grayling at midnight. They reportedly told the sergeant major they were photographing a meteor shower.

U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said the U.S. must remain vigilant while calling on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to revoke funding for Chinese-based company Gotion, which plans to set up an EV battery factory in rural Michigan, much to the dismay of local residents.

“The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state. State funding for Gotion’s plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for more spying,” Moolenaar said on X.

This case shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant. For national security reasons, Governor Whitmer and the legislature must revoke state funding for Gotion immediately.https://t.co/HeQPsKMR7U

— Rep. John Moolenaar (@RepMoolenaar) October 2, 2024

U.S. lawmakers also sought to get answers last week concerning China’s Salt Typhoon breach of telecommunications giants AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies, hacking their respective wiretapping systems.

Remember those suspicious outages? It is now known that Chinese hackers affiliated with the Chinese Army have infiltrated our computer networks tied to the cell phone carriers of Verizon and AT&T & Lumen along with our government wiretapping network. pic.twitter.com/F6cRdNFfx7

— FLAHUSTLA (@FLAHUSTLA) October 8, 2024

The U.S. House Select Committee on China, chaired by Moolenaar, sent a letter to the CEOs of the three internet providers requesting a closed-door briefing on how long the companies knew about the security breach, what is being done about it, and how lawmakers can help these companies implement additional measures.

BREAKING: Chairman @RepMoolenaar and Ranking Member @CongressmanRaja request that @Verizon, @ATT, & @lumentechco brief the committee following reports of a CCP-sponsored cyber attack against the companies. pic.twitter.com/19Ntj89XVf

— Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (@committeeonccp) October 11, 2024

Other incidents that pose a threat to national security include an unknown fleet of drones which breached restricted military airspace at the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, for 17 consecutive days in December 2023.

Top officials are allegedly confounded over the owners of the drones, which circled the base at a height of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, at more than 100 miles per hour, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces,” the report states.

The report notes that because the drones were not seen as an imminent threat, despite breaching restricted airspace, federal law prevents the military from shooting down any drones near a military base.

Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon Is Stumped. Fengyun Shi: ‘ I like to fly drones over military shipyards over my country’s enemy just for kicks’ Sure you do mate. https://t.co/i1SfXwThhp

— Andrew J Phelan (@ajphelo) October 13, 2024

Meanwhile, China Daily reported Tuesday, according to a report released by the Chinese cybersecurity department named “Volt Typhoon III – Unraveling Cyberespionage and Disinformation Operations Conducted by US Government Agencies,” the U.S. and its Western allies are, in fact, spying on China.

“The U.S. cyber-warfare forces use these fabricated identities to conduct cyberattacks and espionage and then put the blame on the impersonated countries for the attacks. The so-called Volt Typhoon operation is a misinformation campaign launched by the U.S., which is why its tactics are so similar to those of other operations conducted by the U.S.-led Five Eyes alliance,” China Daily reported.

It further adds the U.S. “engages in what it is accusing others of doing.”

“The U.S. engages in what it is accusing others of doing. New evidence provided by the report shows that the U.S. firmly controls the world’s most crucial internet nodes, including the Atlantic and Pacific undersea cables. Working closely with the UK National Cyber Security Centre, U.S. government agencies analyze and steal data transmitted through these cables, enabling indiscriminate surveillance of global internet users,” the report states.

However, the U.S. Department of Justice stated in January the Volt Typhoon hacking group is run exclusively by the Chinese Communist Party, and noted there was evidence found that showed the hackers were attempting to conceal the origins of the hackers.

“The hackers, known to the private sector as ‘Volt Typhoon,’ used privately-owned SOHO routers infected with the ‘KV Botnet’ malware to conceal the PRC origin of further hacking activities directed against U.S. and other foreign victims. These further hacking activities included a campaign targeting critical infrastructure organizations in the United States and elsewhere,” the DOJ said in a news release.