Based on an NHK report dated January 6, 2019, this piece outlines how China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) allegedly plays a central role in industrial espionage targeting Western technologies.
It covers the FBI’s Belgium arrest, how iCloud data exposed broader networks, the call for public–private cooperation, and the intensifying U.S.–China confrontation spanning cyber operations and insider recruitment—implications Japan cannot ignore.

2019-01-16
A chapter I posted on 2019-01-06, titled “Spies at home and abroad,” is ranked 11th under the official hashtag ranking: Belgium, on Ameba.
China’s Ministry of State Security is a Chinese intelligence organ engaged in espionage, and it collects and analyzes information, and also deals with spies at home and abroad.
A chapter I posted on 2019-01-06, titled “Spies at home and abroad,” is ranked 11th under the official hashtag ranking: Belgium, on Ameba.
A chapter I posted on 2018-09-17, titled “Do you know why TBS reports in an anti-Japanese manner?”, is now overwhelmingly ranked No. 1 in search volume on Ameba.
People who watched NHK News at 19:00 on 1/6 must have felt gloomy, thinking that if even the United States is like this, then Japan must be completely wide open as a free pass.
The following is from NHK at the link shown above.
U.S. Justice Department makes full effort to uncover China’s industrial espionage network.
January 6, 2019, 11:51.
The U.S. Justice Department believes that China assigns a central role to its intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, in stealing advanced Western technologies as a state-led effort, and it aims to advance investigations of the first MSS officer it arrested last year and connect that to revealing the industrial espionage network.
The FBI arrested a man from China’s Ministry of State Security in Belgium last April, suspecting that he invited and entertained an engineer from GE Aviation in Ohio and attempted to steal corporate secrets related to jet engines.
Prosecutor Glassman of the U.S. Justice Department, who is in charge of the case, told NHK that the MSS plays a central role in industrial espionage, and emphasized that this was the first time an MSS official had been arrested, stating that “this arrest is extremely important for the United States and the world.”
He also strongly criticized China’s activities, saying that China’s theft of secrets from companies around the world, including those in Europe and the United States, is a serious issue, and that the United States positions it as a national security matter, calling it “a state-organized, systematic crime.”
He further stated that the man collaborated with a Chinese resident in Chicago and investigated Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans working at cutting-edge U.S. companies, and said that “another mission of the man was to find people who could conduct espionage activities in the United States,” making clear that authorities are devoting full effort to uncovering the industrial espionage network he built inside the United States.
Prosecutor Glassman also stressed that the arrest was possible because of GE Aviation’s cooperation, and appealed for the importance of public–private cooperation to confront China’s industrial espionage.
Background of the case.
The reason the FBI was able to arrest an executive of the Jiangsu Province State Security Department, a local organ of China’s Ministry of State Security, was a tip-off from GE Aviation to the FBI in 2017.
GE Aviation found the actions of its engineer suspicious after the engineer visited China in 2017 at an invitation, and the investigation began after GE reported it to the FBI.
Then, the FBI and GE Aviation worked together to lure the Jiangsu state security executive, who sought corporate secrets, to Belgium and arrested him.
A key that greatly advanced the investigation was the man’s use of “iCloud” online.
After analyzing the data left on iCloud, the FBI found records showing that since at least 2013 the man had contacted multiple aerospace-related companies in the United States other than GE Aviation and had exchanged communications aimed at stealing corporate secrets.
In addition, from iCloud’s SMS database, the FBI discovered 36 messages exchanged between the man and a Chinese resident in Chicago, revealing a plan to build an espionage network inside the United States.
The man asked the Chicago-based Chinese individual to investigate the backgrounds and contact information of Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans working at advanced U.S. companies, and the FBI believes he was seeking potential spies who could provide U.S. corporate secrets.
The FBI arrested the Chinese resident in Chicago and, viewing the case as only the tip of the iceberg, is continuing its investigation to uncover the MSS espionage network.
U.S.–China confrontation intensifies even in espionage.
The U.S. government believes that China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law strengthened the authority of Chinese intelligence organs such as the MSS and activated illegal activities such as industrial espionage through government–business integration, and it is making full efforts to crack down, with the U.S.–China confrontation intensifying even over espionage.
As part of such crackdowns, the FBI uncovered three cases last year involving the Jiangsu Province State Security Department, a local organ of the MSS.
The first was the arrest in Belgium last April of the deputy director of the Jiangsu state security department.
He is suspected of attempting to steal corporate secrets related to jet engines from an engineer at GE Aviation in Ohio.
Next, authorities uncovered a Chinese resident in Chicago who acted under the deputy director’s instructions.
He is suspected of investigating Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans working at advanced U.S. companies in order to find potential spies who could provide U.S. corporate secrets to the MSS.
Furthermore, in October last year, the FBI announced that two Jiangsu state security executives had worked with a hacker group to launch cyberattacks targeting European and American aviation-related companies, and it indicted ten people including those two executives.
Also, last month, it announced indictments of two members of a hacker group on allegations that the MSS and the hacker group collaborated to conduct cyberattacks against companies and government agencies in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere, stealing cutting-edge technologies and other corporate secrets.
At the same time as these crackdowns, the FBI is also focusing on identifying insiders within the U.S. government who secretly cooperated with the MSS and leaked information.
Last January, it arrested a former CIA employee on suspicion of providing classified information to the MSS in exchange for large sums of money, and last June it arrested a former employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency on suspicion of providing military intelligence.
In addition, the year before last, it arrested former employees of the State Department and the CIA on suspicion of providing information to the MSS in exchange for money.
Meanwhile, the MSS is also uncovering CIA spy networks built inside China, and it is believed that more than 20 CIA cooperators were detained or executed several years ago, with the espionage confrontation between the two countries intensifying further.
What is China’s Ministry of State Security.
China’s Ministry of State Security is an intelligence agency engaged in espionage, and it collects and analyzes information, and also monitors and cracks down on spies at home and abroad.
It was established in 1983 and is an intelligence organ that the Chinese government officially acknowledges externally, and it deploys personnel nationwide through local state security bureaus.
However, it has not opened an official website, and state media reports are limited, so details such as personnel numbers and concrete activities are scarcely known.
In 2014, the Xi Jinping leadership enacted an anti-espionage law and indicated a policy to intensify crackdowns on spying by the MSS and related organs, and Japanese nationals have also been repeatedly detained by agencies under the MSS.
Last month, two Canadians were detained on suspicion of “endangering national security,” and the detentions were widely seen as possible retaliation after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States.
In 2017, China also enforced the National Intelligence Law, which provides legal grounds to strengthen intelligence operations, and it is seen as aiming to intensify information collection targeting organizations and individuals at home and abroad.
On the other hand, regarding the U.S. indictments last month of two Chinese individuals for alleged cyberattacks carried out in collaboration between the MSS and a hacker group against companies and government agencies, China’s Foreign Ministry strongly protested, calling it “a fabrication by the United States” and stating firm opposition, while claiming that China firmly opposes and cracks down on stealing secrets through the internet, and denying any involvement by saying it has not been involved in or supported theft of corporate secrets.