How many ways are there to invade or attack a nation without firing a shot? We can look at China to see a few examples.
This past week, China was in the news as the U.S. closed a Chinese “outpost” in Houston and the people from that consulate were evicted. The Chinese were hacking American institutions and stealing secret research. We don’t yet know what else was going on in that building, but the Chinese spent a day burning documents in the consulate courtyard.
EVICTED
UPDATED: 09/29/2020
Chinese consulates in NYC, San Francisco identified as main spy hubs. According to a report this week, San Francisco and New York consulates are the central locales for Chinese spying operations in the United States.
“San Francisco is the real gem but the US won’t close it,” a former US intelligence official told Axios this week.
The likelihood of either of those two consulates being closed is less so than that of Houston, which the Trump administration appears to be making an example out of.
Foreign intelligence operations in the Bay Area have focused their sights on collecting trade secrets and technology from nearby Silicon Valley.
Aside from gathering technology secrets, Chinese officials have also long been focused on collecting intelligence on internal American political affairs.
In 2018, Politico reported at the time, a well-placed staffer in Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s California office was recruited by the Chinese government to report back about US politics.
THE DRIVER, “RUSSELL LOWE”
Feinstein (D-Calif.) employed the Chinese spy for nearly two decades as her chauffeur, a gofer in her office and a liaison to the Asian American community, the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time.
The paper reported that the man even attended Chinese consulate functions for the California senator.
A Feinstein spokesperson said at the time that her office doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
ORIGINAL STORY:
ANOTHER CHINESE ATTACK? UPDATED: 09/29/2020