“The fact is that compared to the P.R.C., we’re vastly outnumbered on the ground, but it’s on us to defend the American people here at home,” Mr. China’s large population and economy enable it to build intelligence services that are bigger than those of the United States. The spy conflict with China is even more expansive than the one that played out between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War, said Christopher A. officials have honed their capabilities to intercept electronic communications, including using spy planes off China’s coast. and the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency have set up new centers focused on spying on China. officials say, China’s efforts reach across every facet of national security, diplomacy and advanced commercial technology in the United States and partner nations. agents have identified a dozen penetrations by Chinese citizens of military bases on American soil in the last 12 months.īoth countries are racing to develop their artificial intelligence technology, which they believe is critical to maintaining a military and economic edge and will give their spy agencies new capabilities. The F.B.I.’s counterintelligence task forces across the nation have intensified their hunt for Chinese efforts to recruit spies inside the United States.

Xi himself, and in particular his intentions regarding Taiwan.

Blinken, he berated senior generals for failing to tell him that the balloon had gone astray, according to American officials briefed on the intelligence.Īmerican officials, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss espionage, have stressed in interviews throughout the year the magnitude of the challenge. Xi learned of the balloon’s trajectory and realized it was derailing planned talks with Secretary of State Antony J. But in details reported here for the first time, they discovered that when Mr. Xi in the dark until the balloon was over the United States.Īmerican officials would not discuss how spy agencies gleaned this information. Xi was not opposed to risky spying operations against the United States, but American intelligence agencies concluded that the People’s Liberation Army had kept Mr. military bases in Guam and Hawaii, was blown off course. Xi knew and what actions he would take as the balloon, originally aimed at U.S. The spy agencies had been trying to understand what Mr. As China’s spy balloon drifted across the continental United States in February, American intelligence agencies learned that President Xi Jinping of China had become enraged with senior Chinese military generals.

Best espionage movies