A Chinese espionage manual details how Beijing gathers technology and weapons secrets from the US, an article in the latest issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review reports.
The manual, titled Sources and Methods of Obtaining National Defense Science and Technology Intelligence, claims that about 80 percent of the intelligence needed by the Chinese military can be acquired from open sources, while the remaining 20 percent must be collected from classified or secret sources.
The magazine says the manual "belies China's claim that it uses indigenous research to develop military technology. It also details how China maintains a thorough system of gathering intelligence from abroad for military purposes, and that the US is the prime focus of that effort."
To illustrate how "important reference materials" can be leaked by accident, the manual cites key design concepts of the US hydrogen bomb program that were published in a 1979 issue of the US magazine The Progressive.
The manual says classified materials can be obtained through personal relationships, bribes or computer hacking. It also encourages using spies to acquire classified information by means of "on-site taking, bugging or stealing."
Revelations about the manual come amid heightened tensions between the US and China over espionage allegations. The US earlier this month charged Taiwan-born scientist Lee Wen-ho (
A report issued in May by the US House of Representatives said many of China's latest weapons have been built using classified information obtained from the US. Beijing has denied the allegations.
US officials are reportedly studying the contents of the espionage manual, which was published in 1991 and was never classified.
The Review says one outcome of the surfacing of the manual may be "stronger US congressional support for Washington's allies in Asia."
Analysts interviewed by the magazine also expect greater scrutiny of business and research ties between the US and China
"It's too late to close the doors, but this shows that the US has to do more to protect its core technologies against espionage from China," Andrew Yang, an analyst at the Chinese Center for Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei, told the Review.
The book, written by two of China's top military intelligence specialists, is thought to be the first comprehensive manual on Chinese espionage to be seen outside China.
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