West spooked into action to thwart Beijing espionage

Chinese spy Yanjun Xu was jailed in the US for 20 years.

China has been trying to “catch up” with the West, using all means within its power to do so for decades.

Some methods are legitimate, of course, such as the nation’s economic growth.

At the other end of the scale, Beijing, Washington and London have deployed old-fashioned spies against each other for years.

However, in recent years Western nations have begun to take measures against a range of “grey” tactics, from industrial espionage to the “monitoring” of public discussion of issues such as Taiwan or human rights.

A year ago, MI5 director-general Ken McCallum and FBI director Christopher Wray gave an unprecedented joint address to business leaders and academics, saying they needed to join forces to prevent China undermining the West’s security and democratic values.

Microsoft gave a specific example in May that a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group had compromised critical US infrastructure. Cyber espionage groups run by the People’s Liberation Army are suspected of targeting civilian companies, including Google, as far back as 2002. Google and other firms supplying software to companies and government departments provide a “back door” into their computer systems.

MI5 boss Ken McCallum and FBI director Chrispoher Wray have joined forces to fight Chinese spying threats.

There is wider concern about China gaining access to political “influencers”, using Chinese students or even unwitting dupes to prevent discussion of sensitive issues on campuses.

Britain’s National Security Act, which became law in July, introduced a foreign influence registration scheme – based on laws passed in Australia in 2018 to combat the growing influence of China. Lobbyists working there on behalf of foreign states are required to register with the government within 14 days of undertaking their activities or face prison sentences of up to five years.

The US is ahead of Britain in several ways. It has banned federal employees from downloading TikTok on government-issued electronic devices. And 28 states have banned officials from using TikTok at all.

The buying of agricultural land in the US by Chinese companies has stoked fears it may be being used by the Chinese government to spy on US military installations. Last week, China was accused of sending citizens posing as tourists to test security at military installations by trying to enter them “by mistake”.

A striking case was that of an expert in advanced engineering working for American giant GE, who was asked to lecture at a Chinese university in 2017. It was only later the FBI told him he had unwittingly allowed himself to become a Chinese spy. The man who invited him was not a university representative but an agent of Chinese State Security Ministry Xu Yanjun, who plugged him for information. The FBI “turned” the engineer, using him to feed information to the Chinese and, eventually, lure Xu to Belgium, where he was arrested and extradited.

After his trial, Xu was shown to have also targeted French aviation experts and recruited a Chinese student who managed to enrol in the US Army Reserve. Sentenced to 20 years’ jail, it was a rare case of a spymaster, not just a spy, being jailed.

The Times