The number of arrests related to Chinese espionage cases has risen dramatically in recent years, according to U.S. officials.
In the last fiscal year, there were 24 arrests, an increase from 15 arrests five years earlier. There have already been 19 arrests this fiscal year, according to Justice Department statistics presented at a conference on Chinese economic espionage.
“The long-term existential threat to the security of our nation is real,” said William Evanina, the head of U.S. counterintelligence, on Thursday.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau has about 1,000 investigations open into Chinese technology theft that involve “just about every industry sector.”
The officials highlighted a number of prosecutions over the last year, including the arrest of a hospital researcher who was accused of trying to smuggle cancer cells to China. In another case, the chairman of Harvard University’s chemistry department was charged last week with lying about his connections to a Chinese talent recruitment program.
In 2018, the Justice Department launched a China initiative to combat the espionage threat. The initiative has sparked fears about racial profiling, particularly among researchers and students, whom China has used to steal secrets from the United States.
“To be clear, this is not about the Chinese people as a whole, and it sure as heck isn’t about Chinese Americans as a group,” Wray said. “But it is about the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.”
Officials noted that not all targets are Chinese, including the Harvard professor.
