Based on NHK reporting from January 6, 2019, this chapter examines China’s Ministry of State Security, industrial espionage cases in the United States, cyber operations, and the intensifying intelligence conflict between Washington and Beijing.
It highlights state-level information warfare and its implications for global security, including Japan.

2019-01-14
Furthermore, even the year before last, former officials of the State Department and the CIA were arrested on suspicion of providing information to China’s Ministry of State Security in exchange for money.

A chapter published on January 6, 2019, titled “China’s Ministry of State Security, the Chinese intelligence agency conducting espionage activities,” is now ranked 7th in Ameba’s official hashtag ranking for Belgium.
Another chapter titled “Do you know why TBS produces anti-Japan reporting?” published on September 17, 2018, now ranks overwhelmingly first in search volume on Ameba.

Those who watched the NHK news at 7 p.m. on January 6 must have felt a deep sense of unease, thinking that if even the United States faces such threats, Japan must be a complete free pass.

The following is from NHK.

The U.S. Department of Justice is working to uncover China’s industrial espionage network.
It believes that China has assigned a central role to its Ministry of State Security in stealing advanced Western technologies.

The FBI arrested a man from China’s Ministry of State Security in Belgium last April for attempting to steal trade secrets related to jet engines from GE Aviation engineers.

A Justice Department prosecutor emphasized that the ministry plays a central role in industrial espionage and that the arrest was highly significant.

China’s activities to steal secrets from Western companies are regarded as a serious national security issue.

The suspect was also attempting to identify individuals capable of conducting espionage within the United States.

Analysis of the suspect’s iCloud data revealed contacts with multiple companies and plans to build a spy network.

The United States has also indicted individuals connected to cyberattacks carried out by hackers working with China’s Ministry of State Security.

U.S. authorities believe that China’s National Intelligence Law has strengthened coordinated intelligence gathering between state and private sectors.

At the same time, the U.S. has intensified efforts to identify internal informants, arresting former CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency personnel.

Meanwhile, China has been dismantling CIA networks within its borders, reportedly detaining or executing more than twenty collaborators.

China’s Ministry of State Security, established in 1983, conducts intelligence operations, counter-espionage, and information analysis both domestically and abroad.
Despite its nationwide structure, little is publicly known about its actual activities.

Under Xi Jinping, China has strengthened intelligence laws and expanded operations.
Detentions of Japanese and Canadian citizens have also occurred.

The intelligence conflict between the United States and China continues to intensify.