Burns, CIA director since 2021, said last week that his agency has been working to rebuild its networks after the Chinese government caught some of its agents a decade ago.
“We’ve made progress and we’re working very hard over recent years to ensure that we have strong human intelligence capability to complement what we can acquire through other methods,” he told the Aspen Security Forum.
He also said the CIA is working to ensure it can provide early warnings about any plans to attack Taiwan “if that day ever comes”.
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Snowden spy leaks shook the world, a decade later, what’s changed?
Snowden spy leaks shook the world, a decade later, what’s changed?
The New York Times reported in 2017 that US intelligence operations had suffered a heavy blow between 2010 and 2012 in China with dozens of sources being killed or disappearing.
Mao criticised the US for accusing Beijing of engaging in espionage activities on the one hand but spying in China on the other.
“The Americans repeatedly spread false information about so-called Chinese espionage and cyberattacks while blatantly admitting that they are carrying out large-scale intelligence activities against China,” she said. “This fact speaks volumes in itself.”
Several former CIA directors, such as John Deutch under the Bill Clinton administration and William Casey under Ronald Reagan, were also awarded cabinet status.
CIA needs more Chinese speakers, spy boss says in podcast debut
Meanwhile, China’s former minister of state security, Chen Wenqing, was promoted to the 24-member Politburo last year as the country ramps up its anti-espionage efforts.
A major revision of the anti-espionage law was passed by the National People’s Congress earlier this year to give law enforcement greater powers to search electronic equipment.
Chen Yixin, the current Minister of State Security, has said that the security apparatus must “severely crack down” on those who might steal China’s state secrets.
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