Latest news with #ChineseSpies
Japan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Russian intelligence says it collects WeChat data. What does that mean?
Russian counterintelligence agents are analyzing data from the popular Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat to monitor people who might be in contact with Chinese spies, according to a Russian intelligence document. The disclosure highlights the rising level of concern about Chinese influence in Russia as the two countries deepen their relationship. As Russia has become isolated from the West over its war in Ukraine, it has become increasingly reliant on Chinese money, companies and technology. But it has also faced what the document describes as increased Chinese espionage efforts. The document indicates that the Russian domestic security agency, known as the FSB, pulls purloined data into an analytical tool known as "Skopishche' (a Russian word for a mob of people). Information from WeChat is among the data being analyzed, according to the document. The document offers insights into the espionage tactics of two authoritarian governments that are preoccupied with surveillance. According to the document, the system processes detailed data on WeChat users, including account logins, contact lists and message archives, some of which are extracted from phones seized from people of interest to Russia's spy hunters. The WeChat app on a smartphone in 2021 | REUTERS The tool is used to scrutinize the data trail of "people using the Chinese messenger WeChat to talk to representatives of the PRC intelligence services,' the document says, using the abbreviation for the People's Republic of China. The exact functionality of the system is unclear. It is described in Russian as an automated data processing system that can be used in "search activities.' Intelligence agencies typically use such tools to map messenger and social network connections to spot potential spies. The document makes clear that the FSB is particularly interested in WeChat. The Russian security agency asks field officers to send WeChat accounts and logins of interest to the China counterintelligence team, including "lists of contacts (logins) and archives of chats from WeChat obtained during direct access to the smartphones of targets of interest.' The document says data can be run through another automated system, known as Laretz, a Russian word for a small decorated box, that can check "more than a thousand electronic indicators simultaneously.' Reporters were unable to confirm whether Skopishche had been effective as a counterintelligence tool or how extensively the FSB could intercept data from WeChat. One Western intelligence agency said that the information in the document was consistent with what it knew about "Russian penetration of Chinese communications.' The FSB and the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not reply to requests for comment. WeChat, owned by the Chinese tech giant Tencent, is one of the most widely used digital platforms in the world, mostly concentrated in China and among Chinese communities. It functions as an all-in-one tool that combines messaging, mobile payments, social networking and government services. The app has over 1.4 billion users globally, according to Tencent financial disclosures. Tencent did not reply to a request for comment. The Russian flag flies on the dome of the Kremlin Senate building behind Spasskaya Tower in Moscow on June 2. | REUTERS Russian intelligence agencies have worked to penetrate encrypted communication apps like Signal and WhatsApp. The FSB has have long viewed those apps, which are widely used by dissidents, as tools of subversion and foreign influence. In April, President Vladimir Putin of Russia barred government and bank employees from using foreign messaging apps. WeChat is different. By design, it does not use end-to-end encryption to protect user data. That is because the Chinese government exercises strict control over the app and relies on its weak security to monitor and censor speech. Foreign intelligence agencies can exploit that weakness, too. WeChat added some limited encryption features in 2016, according to Mona Wang, a research fellow at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. But the security improvements still fall short of the encryption offered by other messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp. It is unclear why Chinese intelligence officers would use WeChat to communicate with sources, given its lack of end-to-end encryption. But sources or potential recruits may not know they are communicating with spies, who often pose as diplomats and strike up casual conversations at first. WeChat was briefly banned in Russia in 2017, but access was restored after Tencent took steps to comply with laws requiring foreign digital platforms above a certain size to register as "organizers of information dissemination.' It has been confirmed that WeChat is currently licensed by the government to operate in Russia. That license would require Tencent to store user data on Russian servers and to provide access to security agencies upon request. Russia is separately pursuing a government messaging app of its own, one that has drawn comparisons to WeChat. This article originally appeared in The New York Times © 2025 The New York Times Company
New York Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Russian Intelligence Says It Collects WeChat Data. What Does That Mean?
Russian counterintelligence agents are analyzing data from the popular Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat to monitor people who might be in contact with Chinese spies, according to a Russian intelligence document obtained by The New York Times. The disclosure highlights the rising level of concern about Chinese influence in Russia as the two countries deepen their relationship. As Russia has become isolated from the West over its war in Ukraine, it has become increasingly reliant on Chinese money, companies and technology. But it has also faced what the document describes as increased Chinese espionage efforts. The document indicates that the Russian domestic security agency, known as the F.S.B., pulls purloined data into an analytical tool known as 'Skopishche' (a Russian word for a mob of people). Information from WeChat is among the data being analyzed, according to the document. The document offers insights into the espionage tactics of two authoritarian governments that are preoccupied with surveillance. According to the document, the system processes detailed data on WeChat users, including account logins, contact lists and message archives, some of which are extracted from phones seized from people of interest to Russia's spy hunters. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
03-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
President Trump's visa policy thwarts China's spy network on college campuses
A suspected communist Chinese spy got so close to Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell in 2015 that the FBI had to step in to shut down the threat. The Chinese communist agent was a fundraising "bundler" for Swalwell's congressional re-election, had volunteered for numerous Democratic campaigns and facilitated intern assignments in Swalwell's office. And it all started with a student visa to a California university. The Fang Fang case exemplifies a disturbing pattern: Chinese communist spies gaining entry and access to policymakers through seemingly innocuous student visas to U.S. colleges and universities. It's a stark reminder of the urgent need for President Donald Trump's strong and decisive action to aggressively revoke visas of students linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). "Under President Trump's leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields," Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday. "We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong." The new visa policy is long overdue. Beijing thinks in centuries, patiently deploying operatives as students for a payoff years later. In July 2020, FBI Director Chris Wray warned, "China – the Chinese Communist Party – believes it is in a generational fight to surpass our country in economic and technological leadership." The Swalwell spy affair isn't an isolated incident. "She was just one of lots of agents," a senior U.S. intelligence official said when news of the Swalwell case broke. At that time, the FBI maintained roughly 2,500 active FBI counterintelligence cases related to China. Chinese communist espionage starts on college campuses, where connections are formed with aspiring political leaders. Fang Fang's path, according to the FBI, was a textbook example: enrollment at California State University, East Bay, followed by active participation in student political organizations, even leading campus chapters of the Chinese Student Association and the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs. Chinese Embassy and consulate officials have helped facilitate 124 chapters of Chinese students and scholars associations. It's through those very campus organizations that the Chinese spy first made contact with Swalwell and other Democratic politicians. "CSSAs often attempt to conceal or obscure their ties to the Chinese government, frequently omitting incriminating language from the English-language versions of their websites—the ones typically reviewed by university administrators," the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission concluded in 2018. In addition to student associations, China has established joint-venture education programs and institutions in the United States. For years, China built an extensive network of Confucius Institutes on college and university campuses in the United States. Marketed as language learning and cultural programs, the Confucius Institutes acted as a vehicle for Chinese government influence in the United States. Confucius Institute staff were forced to pledge loyalty to protect Chinese national interests. After Congress restricted federal funding to schools with institutes, the institutes have almost all closed, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Closed but the espionage continues. Earlier this month, a bombshell report out of Stanford University exposed a sophisticated CCP intelligence operation targeting Stanford students, particularly those in sensitive fields like AI and robotics. U.S. colleges and universities aren't just a "soft target" for Chinese Communist espionage. They are, in many cases, compromised institutions. As of February 2025, U.S. colleges and universities reported more than $4 billion in foreign funding from China. That's only the disclosed money. Over the past decade, as much as $60 billion in foreign funds have been funneled into American colleges and universities. In 2023, I served on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which warned about the CCP gaining access to research at UC Berkeley through its Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute The Biden administration ignored our concerns that the Chinese government could gain access to sensitive economic, technological and military research. Thankfully, the Trump administration launched an investigation into UC Berkeley this spring for failing to report $220 million in foreign funds from the Chinese government related to Berkeley's PRC-backed collaboration with Tsinghua University. After four years of willful ignorance – or gross incompetence – under the Biden administration, President Trump has wasted no time in directing his administration to take the decisive, necessary action to finally thwart the pervasive and growing threat of Chinese communist espionage on U.S. college campuses. The president's new visa policy is a critical step in securing America's national security.
South China Morning Post
02-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Students as spies? US-China educational ties strained by rising claims of espionage
Chinese spies at Stanford University. American and Chinese pawns for Beijing at Duke Kunshan. Chinese student scouts near a military site in Michigan. Advertisement These are some of the 'bombshell' allegations that have been fuelling online buzz and US government efforts to sever educational ties between the US and China in recent months. A day after The Stanford Review – a student-run conservative newspaper – published a report on May 7 alleging that Beijing was conducting a 'widespread intelligence-gathering campaign' on campus, Senator Ashley Moody, Republican of Florida, cited the piece as evidence that Congress must pass her bill to prevent all Chinese citizens from obtaining US student visas. Similarly, months after a Duke University student published an account of her experiences with Chinese media during a trip to China, two US representatives wrote to Duke's president seeking to shut down Duke Kunshan, the university's joint campus with Wuhan University in China, alleging that it was helping to facilitate Chinese propaganda and intellectual property theft. And, months after claims that Chinese students were spying near a military site in Michigan, the University of Michigan – facing pressure from lawmakers – announced it would end its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Advertisement Capping this trend, the State Department announced last week it would 'aggressively' revoke visas of Chinese students, including those with 'connections' to China's Communist Party and in 'critical fields', citing Beijing's 'intelligence collection' and theft of US research. Lawmakers and government officials involved say that US engagement with Chinese students and universities must be restricted to protect national security.
South China Morning Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korean police apply for reporter's arrest over ‘99 Chinese spies' article
A South Korean reporter could be facing arrest over a false report alleging interference by 99 Chinese spies during former president Yoon Suk-yeol's failed martial law imposition last December. South Korean police have requested an arrest warrant over the purportedly 'exclusive' report published in January by local news outlet Sky eDaily, claiming that the spies were arrested by South Korean and US troops at a National Election Commission (NEC) building on the same day as Yoon's martial law announcement. The police want to investigate the reporter on charges of 'obstruction of official duties' of the NEC, with a court decision on their request expected on Wednesday, according to a report by the Agence France-Presse. The Sky eDaily report claimed that the Chinese nationals were transferred to a US military base in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa and confessed to charges of election interference during interrogation, according to a report by Yonhap news agency. The NEC, American forces based in South Korea and the police have rejected the claims made in the Sky eDaily report. Surveillance video footage from the NEC has revealed that South Korean troops did not enter the building.
