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Daily Mail
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Opinion: A secret foreign army is already here
Atlanta's main airport grinds to a halt when drones are seen buzzing in the sky. Hours later, Chicago goes dark after a power substation mysteriously catches fire. San Diego officials were already struggling to control an oil spill on the Coronado. Faucets have run dry in Denver due to a contaminated reservoir. Then, a racist TikTok meme inspires a mass shooting in Minnesota , a cyberattack briefly shutters the Nasdaq exchange, and armed immigrants storm the Eagle Pass border post in Texas. No, this isn't the opening sequence to a Hollywood movie — these are the nightmare scenarios in two bombshell reports from America's top national security think tanks. Sandor Fabian, at the Modern War Institute, and RAND Corporation's Ian Mitch, paint a terrifying picture of the growing web of Chinese agents, often passing for students and businesspeople, deployed on US soil. They've been in the US for years, silencing dissidents among the Chinese diaspora. But this 'secret army' can be redirected to acts of sabotage if US-China relations turn nasty, the scholars warn. 'The ways available for China to inflict serious physical and psychological damage on the US homeland and population in case of war are only limited by Beijing's imagination,' says Fabian, a former commando. The US federal government faces a 'significant challenge' because our society is already a tinder box of racial and political differences ready to be lit by foreign psy ops, he adds. The reports are a clarion call for tighter security at power plants, airports, data centers and other potential targets, and more intelligence officers to counter the growing menace. China's embassy in Washington DC in a statement told the Daily Mail that the reports were 'groundless and malicious smear attacks', asserting that Beijing is committed to 'peaceful development' and does not interfere in other countries' affairs. Fabian and Mitch do not envisage an all-out war involving nuclear weapons between the US and China. Instead, they imagine a conflict playing out between the two superpowers 6,000 miles away in the Indo-Pacific. In that scenario, China could launch non-conventional attacks from within the US that it could plausibly deny, so as not to escalate into a nuclear war. The reports come amid deepening tensions between the two economic powerhouses, and credible reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his forces to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. The US has defense ties with the self-governing Island, which Beijing views as a wayward province. A Chinese assault or naval blockade of Taiwan could quickly spiral into a conflict between the US and China, experts say. Still, a US-China war is by no means a certainty, and both countries conduct wide-ranging talks on everything from trade disputes to developing norms on artificial intelligence and combating terrorism. Fears about clandestine operations on US soil came to a head in June, when a Chinese researcher in Michigan and her boyfriend were charged with smuggling a biological pathogen that ravages crops into the US . Yunqing Jian, 33, a University of Michigan postdoctoral fellow and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member, and her partner, were caught at an airport with a dangerous fungus known as Fusarium graminearum. They were charged with smuggling and lying to investigators. FBI Director Kash Patel called it a 'sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions.' Jian's arrest raised troubling questions about the roughly 280,000 Chinese students enrolled at US universities, and spotlights a series of shockers on US soil that can be traced back to Beijing. Chinese-American scholar Shujun Wang was in 2024 convicted of posing as a pro-democracy activist , but in reality gathering information on dissidents and feeding their details to Beijing. He famously burned down an artwork depicting Xi's head as a coronavirus molecule at a sculpture park in the Mojave Desert in July 2021. Chinese operatives have meanwhile been caught running alleged political smear campaigns and monitoring dissidents in the US with spying gear and GPS trackers . New Yorker Chen Jinping faces jail for running a bootleg police station for the Chinese government in Manhattan, to which he pleaded guilty in December 2024. During Xi's visit to San Francisco in 2023, China-aligned groups launched coordinated raids on anti-Beijing protesters, attacking them with flagpoles and chemical sprays, and tossing sand in their eyes. US authorities meanwhile have tracked dozens of incidents in which Chinese nationals, sometimes posing as tourists, attempted to access military bases and other sensitive sites — perhaps probing security and laying plans for future attacks . House Republicans took action this week, introducing a bill to end the CCP's grip on American farmland. Chinese entities have in recent years bought up 265,000 acres of American agricultural land , official figures show. Some of it is near sensitive military sites, stoking fears that the purchases could be used to stage military operations in the future. US officials have already quietly busted dozens of espionage rings in recent years. But experts say that's just the tip of the iceberg. Mitch, a former Department of Homeland Security intelligence officer, says China has built up a 'deep bench' of spies, sources, and contacts in the US chiefly aimed at silencing and harassing critics of its government. All the while, he adds, they are 'developing the skills to physically sabotage critical infrastructure during a conflict.' Fabian says the US homeland is far more vulnerable than most people — and policymakers — want to believe. From drone attacks and cyber sabotage to manipulated mass protests and chaos at the border, he says the nightmare scenarios are endless. He outlines a disturbing future: one where Chinese operatives exploit deep divisions in US society, weaponize immigration flows, crash critical infrastructure, and use social media to turn Americans against each other. He points to real-world examples — fishing boats cutting undersea cables, drones grounding commercial planes, and malware shutting down gas pipelines — as proof of how low-tech or deniable attacks can cause massive disruption with minimal effort. Both researchers warn that America's intelligence teams are overstretched. The FBI in 2020 revealed that about half of its caseload of 5,000 counterintelligence probes related to China. That has likely increased in the past five years, even as agents have been transferred to the immigration enforcement beat. For Fabian, Washington must not only bolster security at soft targets and expand intelligence operations — but also wake up the American public to the chilling threats their enemies may already be plotting. 'It is time to begin developing a total defense approach to preparing American society, not just the military, for the realities of a future war,' he said. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington strongly rejected the claims in the reports.
The Sun
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
I have a £100k bounty on my head – I'm always looking over my shoulder as ruthless regime snatchers hunt me down
ON CHRISTMAS Eve last year, Carmen Lau woke up to find she had a £100k bounty on her head set by China. The former Hong Kong district councillor, who now lives in the UK, was one of six pro-democracy activists wanted by the Hong Kong police for HK$1 million. 12 12 12 12 In the months since then, Carmen has faced intense intimidation and harassment - which even led to her neighbours receiving letters detailing her bounty. She described being stalked through London by suspected Chinese agents - and spoke of her shock in realising that the regime had worked out her address in the UK. Carmen lived in fear thinking her home could raided - and that trackers may have been placed on her car. She called on the UK to do more to take on China, and urged Keir Starmer not be cowed by Beijing for economic gains. The 30-year-old has spoken exclusively to The Sun to share her experience of life on the run from the Hong Kong police. "After the bounty, there was a lot of physical and psychological intimidation targeting myself and also the other individuals who are on the same bounty list as well," she said. "I've been putting extra caution in protecting myself, while I still wish to continue to advocate for the Hong Kong cause." Shortly after her bounty was posted, Carmen was walking through the streets of London when she noticed she was being stalked by strangers. "I had no idea who they were," she said. "Maybe they were just bounty hunters. Or maybe they were actually Chinese agents." But this pressure was only amplified when her neighbours received letters outlining the price on her head. Inside dystopian Chinese megacity of 32 million where workers 'don't see sunlight' & Big Brother is always watching These messages included a UK phone number to contact alongside the offer of HK$1 million for information leading to her being handed over to the Chinese Embassy. The letters, which Carmen shared on social media, claimed she was wanted for "incitement to secession" and "collusion with a foreign country". Carmen said: "I was quite stressed at that moment because I wasn't at home and I didn't know whether my home was actually being raided or someone actually put cameras or trackers on my car or nearby. "So I was I was quite scared when I was told." She added that the "most concerning part" was knowing that the people targeting her had worked out her address and personal details in Britain. "If it could happen to me, it could actually happen to anyone who is still in the movement or who are still eager to push for democracy for Hong Kong," Carmen said. Lau was one of six Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were targeted by pro-Beijing authorities last December. But far more figures have found themselves under fire in a sustained crackdown over the past half decade, which has seen pro-democracy activists jailed under a Beijing-imposed National Security Law. Mass protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019 after a draft extradition bill was put forward by regional authorities - that would have allowed mainland China to extradite suspects. Millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets of their city in spite of a muscular response from the Hong Kong police - who used water cannons and tear gas en masse in attempts to disperse the crowds. The bill was shelved in the wake of these demonstrations, but protests continued into the following year when the contentious National Security Law was introduced to a similarly fierce backlash. Pro-democracy activists argued this law, which the region's authorities argue is needed to guard against dissent, would fatally undermine the region's civil liberties. Hong Kong was a British colony for more than 150 years before it was handed over to China in 1997. The handover deal set out that Hong Kong would have a firm degree of autonomy from Beijing, but pro-democracy activists argue these freedoms have been steadily eroded over the years. "We saw a lot of hope, and we saw a potential pathway to achieve our cause," Carmen said. 12 12 Carmen was elected as a district councillor in Hong Kong in 2019 and became Secretary-General of the Civic Party, one of the largest pro-democracy parties, the following year. Her party has since been forcibly dissolved, and she fled the mounting repressing in Hong Kong in 2021. "After the National Security Law it was a overnight oppression," Carmen said. "That's not only the political sphere, but also the whole society. "Even the air around Hong Kong, has become different. And gradually everyone was being silenced and civil society dismantled." While many Hong Kongers have fled the territory since China's crackdown, many activists continue to be targeted overseas in what is known as "transnational repression". This is when vocal dissident figures are persecuted by repressive authorities outside of their home country - a fate faced by many critics of the Chinese government around the world. Transnational repression does not only include the targeting of individuals, but can also see their friends and families at home coerced or suppressed in retaliation. Carmen told The Sun that this persecution isn't just felt by outspoken activists, but also by ordinary Hong Kongers who have moved abroad since 2020. She said: "A lot of Hong Kongers in the UK who may not be an activist, or as activists... could possibly face harassment day by day, being photographed by some suspected China supporters claiming that they would send it back to China. "I think this daily micro-aggressive harassment is something that people should also be aware of." This repression is not limited to the Hong Kong diaspora, with Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists also facing persecution from China around the world. Many members of these communities have become afraid to speak out or protest - even from democratic countries - out of fear of reprisal from Beijing. Thousands of Hong Kongers have come to the UK under the BN(O) visa pathway, which gives them a bespoke pathway to residency - and eventually citizenship - in Britain. More than 150,000 people have moved from Hong Kong under the scheme since its 2021 introduction. Carmen described this visa scheme as "protective umbrella" for Hong Kongers, but stressed the need for further safeguards against Chinese retalliation. If China were to cancel the passport of any Hong Kong activist, it could leave them stateless - and ineligible for UK consular services unless they had been in the country long enough to get citizenship. It comes as Keir Starmer continues to face intense scrutiny over the government's drive to warm relations with China. Starmer became the first British PM in more than half a decade to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping when they shook hands at last year's G20 summit. 12 12 This came after years of frosty relations with Beijing, which saw the British government order equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to be removed from its 5G network over security fears. "The current government uses economic interest or economic growth of the United Kingdom as a reason to re-establish relationship with China," Carmen told The Sun. "And it seems that it has disproportionately given up... some human rights and democratic values that the British cherished for years to trade off with some very minor economic interests." Carmen also raised concerns about China's planned new embassy in London - which would be the largest diplomatic outpost in Europe if built as planned. But activists have repeatedly raised fears about the project, with Carmen saying the "mega-embassy" could be used as a base for transnational repression. China denies human rights abuses and insists it is only targeting threats to its national security. But Carmen said: "With the letters being sent to my neighbours encouraging them to place me in the Chinese Embassy "You could imagine how it would be once if I got put it in that new site. Who knows what will happen." Carmen added that China is "collaborating" with other authoritarian regimes, making it "more essential than ever" that democratic nations work together in response. Shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin pledged a "no limits" partnership between their brutal regimes. "I do think that they already realise the problematic threats. But we need assertive and decisive action right now," Carmen said. "Otherwise the world order would shift, and then there will no longer be a place for democracy." 12 12
