MI5 on threats in intelligence warfare and Chinese spies in America

According to the leadership of MI5 (the British Security Service), the UK faces serious threats from Russia, China and Iran. These countries employ coercion, intimidation and violence on foreign soil and may also support each other in hostile actions. Iranian services are particularly aggressive, having attempted to kidnap “enemies of the regime” on British territory on at least ten occasions. Meanwhile, Russia’s espionage capabilities in Europe have weakened since the invasion of Ukraine in February this year, as more than 400 undercover spies have been expelled from Russian diplomatic missions.

German court sentences former German reserve officer to one year and nine months in prison suspended for spying for Russia. The accused officer has been in contact with senior staff at the Russian embassy in Berlin for at least the last eight years and has passed on information about  German reserve forces, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and sensitive documents on US security and defence policy.

In the US, a court is about to sentence Chinese national Yanjun Xu, guilty of trying to steal trade secrets from US aerospace companies, while he has already spent five years in prison. Since December 2013, Xu has recruited experts who had worked at aerospace companies, including GE Aviation in Cincinnati. In Canada, meanwhile, the federal police there charged a Chinese expert working at the Hydro-Québec plant with espionage.  Yuesheng Wang was alleged to have secretly passed trade secrets to China.