Whereas U.S. intelligence agencies collect information for counterterrorism and military operations abroad, China’s spy services focus on obtaining intellectual property and implementing social controls.
From a review of “Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer” on Cipher Brief.
The chapter on economic espionage is the longest, and is enlightening both to the scale of Chinese activities, their breath of interests, and what the authors characterize as the PRC’s “entrepreneurial” approach to collection. With over 360,000 students in the United States—few of whom are studying American literature–an entrepreneurial approach, and a sophisticated cyber capability, the PRC is well positioned to acquire proprietary as well as classified information.
Source: A Primer on Chinese Espionage
MORE: Inside China’s Ministry of State Security (English or Simplified Chinese)
