Where Data Tells the Story
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The case of a former aide to two New York governors who stands accused of excerting influence, falsifying documents, sharing information and carrying out shady business deals while receiving favors and kickbacks from the Chinese government and Chinese companies is expected to go to trial early this month. While in many ways, the case of Linda Sun and her husband Chris Hu is not typical of Chinese espionage and influence in the United States, it is extremely brazen in nature and stands for a trend that experts say is growing.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, which researched cases of Chinese espionage in the United States between the years 2000 and 2023, found that most of these cases involved Chinese citizens, not naturalized U.S. citizens like Sun and Hu. Only 10 percent of cases involved non-Chinese actors. Furthermore, just 17 percent of cases had to do with U.S. government agencies (other than military ones) or U.S. politicians. In fact, 54 percent of cases involved spying on military installations and technology, like in the case of two Chinese citizens residing in Oregon, who were accused in the summer of having spied on the U.S. Navy. Another 29 percent of cases analyzed out of a total of 224 had to do with commercial espionage. 46 percent involved cyber espionage, while others were carried out on the ground though agents and acquired assets.
A study undertaken by author Nicholas Eftimiades and published in the year 2020 likewise found that China had expanded its espionage efforts since the year 2000 and that mainly Chinese citizens and males were involved. It identifies private as well as state-owned companies, China's Ministry of State Security, the Central Military Commission, other government offices and universities as actors carrying out espionage acts. Accoding to Eftimiades, these acts often target military and tech commercial technologies the country seeks to acquire in areas like clean energy, biotechnology, aerospace, information technology and manufacturing. Geographically, cases in this second study foused heavily on California.