In Germany, incidents of China trying to gather intelligence through educational exchanges have been exposed repeatedly over the past few years.
German Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser said that the danger was particularly considerable in the economic, industrial and science sectors, and warned that German companies, universities and research institutions should be highly vigilant.
She said that every precaution should be taken to prevent Chinese infiltration, and highlighted three priorities to enhance Germany’s security: identifying risks, averting dangers and avoiding dependencies.
In the name of educational collaboration, China has been sending doctoral students to participate in German companies’ research projects. These students have access to the companies’ information technology. After they return to China, they file a patent application and turn German technologies into Chinese ones.
It should be mentioned that incidents such as this have happened elsewhere, and China’s aim is to steal technologies and gather intelligence from foreign countries.
As Faeser said, Chinese spies’ activities have put Germany’s economy, industry and scientific research at risk. Precautionary measures must be implemented to stop them.
China has never stopped sending students to foreign countries for “educational exchanges.” It is clear that Beijing intends to steal confidential intelligence from others.
On April 26, the newly revised Anti-Espionage Law of the People’s Republic of China was passed and is to come into effect on July 1. In addition to the current 40 articles, another 31 have been added to the law.
With the revised law, the Chinese government can prohibit foreign media from reporting on the actual situation in China, while reinforcing the surveillance of foreigners in Chinese territory. This way, stealing foreign companies’ production secrets in China would not be against the law, and the stolen information and technologies could be put to use for China.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) rule, the Chinese government has jettisoned international norms and challenged the global world order. China has been engaging in the theft of civilian technologies overseas and appropriating them for its military use.
The purpose is to bolster the power of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In the near term, China might become so powerful that all foreigners in Chinese territory could be in danger. Traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau should therefore be avoided.
Visiting places that are greatly influenced by China might be dangerous as well. To protect its own information and intelligence, every country should improve its pre-emptive measures and defense against China.
Yi An is an assistant at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Translated by Emma Liu
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