Top-ranking US security officials have warned that China’s use of cyber espionage and stealing of intellectual property are significant risks for the country’s economic security, Bloomberg reports.
“What hangs in the balance is not just the future of the United States, but the future of the world,” said Bill Priestap, assistant director of the FBI counterintelligence division.
The Trump administration has been pressing Beijing on trade practices relating to IP and cyber theft as part of a wider trade war with China. Measures are reportedly being put in place to more effectively prosecute Chinese hackers and prevent IP theft, according to sources.
At the same meeting with the Senate Judicial Committee, assistant attorney general for national security John Demers said that such practices were increasing, and the China has stolen technology from fields such as autonomous drones and chemical compounds.
“We cannot tolerate a nation that steals the fruits of our brain power,” Demers said. “That is just what China is doing.”