China's intelligence service increasing activity

Intelligence services in the US, Australia, Britain and Taiwan are increasingly concerned over the rise in number of suspected Chinese intelligence agents gathering advanced technology information abroad. China has spent more than two decades creating a large and varied intelligence infrastructure in the United States, according to US counterintelligence documents. High-profile prosecutions in recent years related to alleged Chinese espionage may merely hint at the depth and breadth of China's collection efforts.

Recent arrests in New England and Los Angeles has the theft of military technology in the spotlight for the US. Countries such as Britian, Taiwan and Australia have increased monitoring on suspected Chinese agents who have entered these countries under the over of student and tourist visas. The latest high-profile prosecutions only hint at the depth of China's collection efforts.

Chinese data collection differs from that of the cold war games the US and USSR were engaged in. China's focus is collecting small amounts of data from various agents which in turn provides the entire network with an excessive amount of stolen information on sensitive military and economic data. Worried officials fear that China could share stolen advanced military technology with Iran, which would aid in their nuclear and space programmes.