GOP Rep: Chinese Spy Operations Against U.S. Soar Under Biden By Eric Lendrum
A Republican congressman and committee chairman has said that Chinese spying operations on U.S. soil have increased dramatically since Joe Biden took office.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.), Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said that such operations include a rise in espionage and surveillance operations focusing on American military bases.
“It is worrying that the Biden administration continues to be unable to protect the United States from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage,” said Gallagher in an interview. “The CCP flew a spy balloon across the U.S., hacked senior U.S. cabinet officials, and sent spies to our most sensitive military sites, yet the Biden administration remains committed to failed diplomatic and economic engagement.”
Gallagher also expressed his concerns in a letter sent to the FBI and the Pentagon earlier this week, saying that “there is a growing trend of persons working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party to obtain sensitive information about America’s military, economic, and technological secrets.”
The most infamous example was in January, when a Chinese spy balloon floated across the entirety of the continental United States; the Biden Administration repeatedly refused to shoot it down, even as American citizens could plainly see the balloon from the ground. It was finally taken down once it reached the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon’s movements were meant to deliberately take it right over several military bases for intelligence-gathering purposes.
Other incidents in recent years have included efforts by Chinese businessmen and corporations to buy large plots of land in the United States, often located near military bases and other strategic assets. This trend has led to several states passing laws cracking down on the practice, forbidding the purchase of such land by China and other foreign entities.
Multiple attempts by the Biden Administration to negotiate peacefully with China have not been successful, leading Gallagher to declare that “enough is enough.”
“That’s why I have requested Defense Secretary [Lloyd] Austin and FBI Director [Christopher] Wray provide a briefing to the Select Committee and provide answers,” Gallagher added. His request calls for a classified briefing on all of China’s spy operations, as well as a review of documents related to a security review conducted by the Pentagon in 2018 regarding the security of American military bases.
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