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| Central Asia |
| FBI: China has 3,000 espionage "front" companies in U.S.; U.S. permitting "smart bomb" technolog |
| 2003-08-21 |
| August 8: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said this week that China will be the greatest espionage threat to North America during the next 10 years to 15 years, reports Canada’s Asian Pacific Post. FBI Director Robert Mueller told the United States Congress that China has more than 3,000 "front" companies in America coordinating direct espionage efforts. Some of the thousands of Chinese visitors, students and business people who visit the United States each year also have a government intelligence task to perform, authorities say. "Left unchecked, such a situation could greatly undermine U.S. national security and U.S. military and economic advantage [in the Pacific region]," Mueller told Congress. In Canada, intelligence reports indicate the number of Chinese front companies to be between 300 and 500. But unlike America, Canada’s China experts say the political climate in Ottawa is not conducive to cracking down on the threat. "Virtually all the recent prime ministers and Paul Martin - who is likely to be the next prime minister - have strong connections to China on personal, business and political fronts," said an intelligence analyst specializing in East Asian affairs. "They find it difficult to understand this threat... some just deny it," he said. For former Canadian Foreign Service officer Brian McAdam, this week’s FBI warning reads like a passage out of a report he produced for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). McAdam worked on "Project Sidewinder" which was conducted by the CSIS and aided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police between 1994 and 1996. That study mirrors this week’s FBI assertions that China poses the most significant threat to North America. MORE IN ARTICLE |
| Posted by:rg117 |