China has condemned remarks by CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis suggesting that US intelligence agencies are conducting economic espionage operations against Beijing, describing the comments as evidence of a “bandit logic” and a Cold War mentality.
Ellis made the remarks on Tuesday during a cybersecurity conference, where he said the United States needed to gather intelligence on China’s economic and technological activities to counter what Washington considers a growing Chinese threat.
“Our economy is intertwined with theirs,” Ellis said, arguing that China’s economic strength could provide Beijing with leverage over the United States.
He added that the “CIA has to respond differently” to the economic dimension of the rivalry between the two countries.
“We have to be able to collect foreign intelligence relevant to that economic security dimension of the competition, which means we need expertise about how to collect that information, how to analyse it.”
Ellis identified strategic industries including semiconductors and biotechnology as areas of particular interest to US intelligence agencies, reflecting the intensifying competition between the world’s two largest economies.
China’s commerce ministry responded on Friday, strongly criticising the remarks and accusing Washington of openly targeting Chinese businesses for espionage.
“The US has bluntly declared that Chinese companies are legitimate targets of espionage, tearing away the fig leaf that once concealed intelligence agencies’ covert theft, and laying bare… the bandit logic of hegemony,” the ministry said.
The ministry argued that China’s progress in areas such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology should not be viewed as an opportunity for foreign intelligence operations.
China’s technological advance in artificial intelligence or biotech “must never be treated as prey”, it said, while also accusing the United States of maintaining a “Cold War mentality”.
Beijing further accused Washington of intentionally disrupting fair competition and disregarding established international trade principles.
The commerce ministry warned that China would take “necessary measures” to protect its interests if the United States continued with what it described as unfair practices.
The latest exchange comes less than two weeks before a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on September 24, according to Washington.
Artificial intelligence and trade are expected to be among the major issues discussed by the two leaders as tensions between Washington and Beijing continue.
Source: AFP
