Chinese Espionage in 2025 and beyond
A Stronger Approach: How Trump Could Tackle CCP Espionage in the U.S.
From IP theft, cyber operations, deceptive business practices and market manipulation the US business community losses roughly $600MM per year according to the FBI. Its a hard number to quantify but add in the ancillary things the CCP does inside the US the dollar value is likely higher. The most recent Salt Typhoon hack into AT&T and Verizon will likely cost upwards of a billion if you factor in the lose of future work and the remediation of the systems effected.
It should come as no surprise that because of the success of CCP cyber and espionage operations against the US the last few years “Xinnie the Pooh” himself is extremely happy with his Ministry of State Security (MSS) Director Chen Yixin, who has overseen these intelligence operations. Chen has publicly stated his goals against the US are to help the CCP “win the initiative in the struggle,” It has been working for the CCP spymaster so far under the Biden Administration who has not found a way to counter the constant Chinese cyber attacks and espionage operations. The CCP is absolutely taking advantage of COVID and a President who did not understand how to implement effective deterrence from espionage.
Negotiating or engaging with the CCP on this topic and many other topics like trade, finance, and fentanyl are useless and a waste of time and effort on the part of the State Department. The only way to stop these operations is to take the gloves off and strike back to varying degrees. Volt Typhoon used thousands of home routers based in the US to launch its many attacks on critical infrastructure, then why can we still buy home routers made in China? The responses from CCP espionage do not have to be hanging CCP spies out of windows (But it should be, it really should be) there are instant tariffs that can be put on Chinese goods and outright bans on things like Chinese routers, servers, and drones.
The Trump administration has a variety of tools in its toolbox to use against the CCP and if I were counter-espionage czar for a day the 5 pillars would be simple:
1. Fortify National Critical Infrastructure Against Emerging Threats
Enhance Cyber Resilience: Implementing advanced cybersecurity measures directly counters espionage attempts targeting critical systems.
Responsible Organization: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Recommendation: put JCDC into a more push/pull exchange of information that is more streamlined and allows sector risk managers to move faster with more information
Public-Private Collaboration: Sharing threat intelligence between sectors aids in identifying and mitigating espionage activities.
Pull information sharing for cyber away from each individual agency and house them in one place with a mandate to speed the classification downgrade and dissemination of actionable information to the private sector to use in their own defenses.
Regular Risk Assessments: Continuous evaluations help detect vulnerabilities that adversaries might exploit for intelligence purposes.
Responsible Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Recommendation: NIST builds a counter intelligence framework for the private sector based off of Carnegie Mellons insider threat program.
2. Secure and Diversify U.S. Supply Chains
Supply Chain Mapping: Understanding supply chain networks prevents adversaries from infiltrating or compromising them.
Responsible Organization: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Supply Chain Resilience Center
Recommendation: through coordination with the National Counterintelligence Center upon completion of national critical supply chain mapping increase information sharing with key stakeholders who have been identified as having supply chain vulnerabilities (built in backdoors from foreign countries of concern) We dont need pagers exploding
Promote Domestic Production: Reducing reliance on foreign suppliers limits opportunities for foreign intelligence services to embed espionage tools.
Responsible Organization: Department of Commerce
Recommendation: The Department of Commerce shall implement programs to incentivize domestic manufacturing of critical technologies and components. By providing grants, tax incentives (via Congress), and support for research and development, the department would reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, thereby limiting opportunities for foreign intelligence services to embed espionage tools
Implement Stringent Vetting Processes: Screening investments and partnerships prevents adversarial influence and espionage.
Responsible Organization: Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
Recommendation: Increase CFIUS jurisdiction to other key sectors and build in a look-back period so if something is missed and can be addressed as it relates to 15 CFR § 7.4
3. Safeguard the U.S. Economy from Foreign Exploitation
Protect Intellectual Property: Preventing theft of innovations is a core counterespionage activity.
Responsible Organization: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Recommendation: Nullify the China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and USPTO memorandum of understanding and renegotiate it under the Trump administration
Monitor Foreign Investments: Scrutinizing investments helps identify and thwart economic espionage efforts.
Recommendation: Mandate an outbound capital disclosure to foreign adversaries for firms regestered with FINRA, CFTC, SEC
Educate Businesses: Guidance enables companies to recognize and counteract espionage threats.
Recommendation: No need to church this up honestly make them feel cool about stopping people stealing their stuff, make it something they want to do instead of just another cost center. Fill them in on how bad the situation really is.
4. Defend American Democracy Against Foreign Influence
Counter Elite Capture: Neutralizing foreign propaganda protects against intelligence operations aimed at influencing public opinion.
Agressivley Hunt Down Influence Operations: The CCP’s United Front Work Department is the closest network of CCP operatives and they should be deported or arrested before they can do anymore damage.
Responsible Organization: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Recommendation: add the UFWD to organized crime squad responsibilities
Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating citizens helps them identify and resist foreign intelligence influence.
Responsible Organization: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Recommendation: Increase declassification of foreign espionage operations to allow the public to see behind the scenes into what foreign intelligence enterprises do in the US.
5. Counter Foreign Intelligence Cyber and Technical Operations
Advance Cyber Capabilities: Developing technologies to detect and thwart cyber espionage is fundamental to counterintelligence.
Responsible Organization: National Security Agency (NSA)
Recommendation: The NSA could establish a "Cyber Espionage Innovation Accelerator Program" to expedite the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies aimed at detecting and thwarting cyber espionage.
Strengthen Cyber Workforce: Training professionals to address complex cyber threats enhances counterespionage capabilities.
Responsible Organization: Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD)
Recommendation: Build a nationwide vetted bug bounty style program for training and information sharing between private hackers and security researchers and the USG
International Collaboration: Sharing intelligence with global partners strengthens collective defenses against espionage.
Responsible Organization: Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
Proposed Policy Implementation: The ODNI shall create an "International Counter-Espionage Coordination Council" to facilitate intelligence sharing and joint operations with global partners. This council would convene regularly to discuss emerging espionage threats, share best practices, and coordinate responses to espionage activities. By strengthening international collaboration, the ODNI would enhance collective defenses against espionage.
The CCP’s relentless attacks on American industry, infrastructure, and intellectual property have highlighted the urgent need for a proactive, unyielding response. It’s time to break away from ineffective diplomacy and enforce measures that truly safeguard U.S. interests. By implementing a stronger framework across cybersecurity, supply chain security, economic protections, democratic defense, and global partnerships, we can finally stem the tide of CCP espionage and secure our nation’s future.
Concise and well argued, accelerated declassification was worthwhile in Ukraine, I wish it was used as a strategy more often.