China | Spooks in the machine

What to make of China’s massive cyber-espionage campaign

America and others offer rich details of what Chinese spies are up to

Oliver Dowden, Britain’s deputy prime minister
Mr Dowden goes APT huntingPhotograph: Goff Photos
|LONDON

When calling out China, Western governments sometimes like to stand together. On March 25th and 26th America, Britain and New Zealand did so in a co-ordinated blast against Chinese cyber-espionage. American federal prosecutors accused China’s cyber-spooks of waging a campaign for years against a wide range of targets in the West, including critics of the Chinese Communist Party. Britain’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, said China showed “ongoing patterns of hostile activity targeting our collective democracies”. New Zealand blamed state-linked hackers in China for a cyber-attack on the country’s parliament.

Explore more

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Spooks in the machine”

From the March 30th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

An employee works at the grain reserve warehouse of a soybean processing enterprise

Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs

As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America

A little black figure struggles to open a door in the back of Xi Jinping's head.

Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping

China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?


POlice stand outside a Hong Kong court where 45 pro-democracy activists are to be convicted

Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong

Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade 


China’s greatest dumpling run

A big gathering of young cyclists is ended by officials

A spate of horrific car-rammings shakes China

They are known as “revenge on society” attacks

Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour 

It accounts for almost 40% of global investment in clean energy



Discover more

Is India’s education system the root of its problems?

A recent comparison with China suggests that may be so


A girl in China doing homework

Podcast Drum Tower

Inside China’s disciplinary centres for “deviant” youth

Our weekly podcast on China. This week: what happens when young Chinese challenge the social conservatism of their parents?


Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs

As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America

Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping

China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?

From Nixon to China, to Trump to Tehran

Iran is weak. For America’s next president that creates an opportunity