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A report in a recent issue of German news magazine Der Spiegel said Chinese expatriates are involved in most of the industrial espionage cases that occur in Germany. "Chinese residents and students in particular are working in large groups as 'yellow spies,'" the report "Die Gelben Spione (The Yellow Spies)" said. "The 'yellow spies' concentrate on gathering intelligence on Germany's state-of-the-art science, technologies, and industries. Disguised as diplomats or journalists, many of them collect political, economic and military secrets."
In an interview, an official with Germany's domestic intelligence agency BfV, or Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said, "Chinese intelligence agents pose a serious threat to Germany's security, as Germany plays an important role in the EU and NATO and many German enterprises possess cutting-edge technologies."
Der Spiegel reported in August that Chinese hackers believed to be directed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) infiltrated computer systems belonging to Germany's chancellor, Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economics and Technology in May. Some 60 percent of recent cyberattacks against Germany have originated from China, the report claimed.
Der Spiegel is not the only media outlet that is making a fuss about Chinese spying. Major European newspapers have been sounding the alarm about the threat one after the next. The Times of London reported last Saturday, "In an unprecedented alert, the Director-General of MI5 sent a confidential letter to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at banks, accountants and legal firms this week warning them that they were under attack from 'Chinese state organizations.'"
Le Monde of France reported on Sept. 8 that the office of the French prime minister was cyberattacked by hackers presumed to be working for the PLA. The Financial Times of Britain wrote on Sept. 4, "The Chinese military sent a shiver down the Pentagon's spine in June by successfully hacking into an unclassified network used by the top policy advisers to Robert Gates, the defense secretary."
Chinese authorities have flatly denied all allegations of spying, calling them "irresponsible" and claiming that the real victim of foreign espionage is China. But it is no secret that China is stepping up its espionage activities to gather cutting-edge technologies and other information from rival countries.
An annual report by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said there has been a 20 to 30 percent jump in the number of Chinese espionage cases in the U.S. technology hotbed of Silicon Valley. Time magazine reported in February 2005 that over 3,000 companies in the U.S. are suspected of gathering intelligence for China. A source who has worked with a number of Ivy League universities and research centers said that many of these companies are fronts for the PLA. Chinese industrial espionage reportedly costs American businesses more than US$45 billion in damages a year.
Experts predict that China will intensify its industrial spying because it is in dire need of cutting-edge technologies as it moves away from manufacturing only knock-offs and bargain goods toward becoming an advanced industrial and military power.
South Korea is in immediate danger. Our enterprises, many of which are world leaders in shipbuilding, iron and steel, semiconductors and automobiles, have become targets of Chinese spies. Not a few South Korean businesses have already suffered from direct or indirect spying by China. European nations and the U.S. are issuing alerts on China's industrial espionage, and we also can no longer afford to ignore the threat.
This column was contributed by Song Eui-dal, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Hong Kong.
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