China appears to have a sophisticated, persistent cyber-enabled espionage system in place, seeking to procure and export controlled military items from the USA to Beijing.
The '2024 Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China' released by the US Defence Department, listed a few instances of arrests that happened in the past one year to highlight China's efforts to acquire sensitive, dual-use, or military-grade equipment from the US.
These included aviation technologies, radiation-hardened power amplifiers and supervisory circuits, radiation-hardened integrated circuits, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, accelerometers, gyroscopes, naval and marine technologies, signals decoders, syntactic foam trade secrets, space communications, military communication jamming equipment, and dynamic random access memory.
ALSO READ: Plans of China's Western Theater Command for India revealed
In October 2023, a former identified US service member was arrested for trying to deliver national defense information to China's security services, including a device that would enable access to US secure military computer networks, the report said.
In August 2023, two US service members were arrested for transmitting sensitive military information to China. This included information on sensitive weapons, propulsion, and desalination systems of naval warships.
In another instance, a US Army intelligence analyst allegedly transmitted sensitive documents pertaining to the tactics, techniques, and procedures manuals for the HH-60W helicopter, the all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft F-22-A Raptor, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the HIMARS mobile artillery system. The analyst was arrested. According to the report, "the analyst provided information on US military exercises, studies on major countries including China, hypersonic equipment, and the United States’ potential plans during a Taiwan contingency."
READ MORE: China's nuclear arsenal soars despite corruption in PLA
In another case, a Chinese national, working for Google, was arrested for the theft and transition of artificial intelligence-related trade secrets and offering them to China-based companies.
China presents a sophisticated, persistent cyber-enabled espionage and attack threat to military and critical infrastructure systems through its efforts to develop, acquire, or gain access to information and advanced technologies, according to the report.
Telecommunications firms, service providers, and software developers too were the target of Chinese spies. "Key US targets include proprietary commercial and military technology companies and research institutions associated with defense, energy, and other sectors," the report said.
The report revealed that China seeks to create create disruptive and destructive effects to shape decision-making and disrupt military operations at the initial stages and throughout a conflict and said China's activities in cyberspace constitute "a fundamentally different, more complex, and more urgent challenge to the US national security today than they did a decade ago."