It appeared to be the first time in more than 30 years that Chinese diplomats were expelled over suspected espionage acts. U.S. officials believe that at least one of the officials was an intelligence officer operating “under diplomatic cover,” six unidentified sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
The State Department, the National Security Council, and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for confirmation of the expulsions.
U.S. officials told The New York Times that in recent months, Chinese diplomats have “become bolder” about appearing at research or government facilities without announcement.
“China wants to be the superpower of the world and promote the CCP to the top. Right now, they have a very dangerous ability to surveil and censor.”
Weeks after the incident at the military base, the State Department on Oct. 16 announced stricter restrictions aimed at limiting the activities of Chinese diplomats, by requiring them to give additional notice before meeting with U.S. officials or visiting certain institutions. The Chinese Embassy said at the time that the new restrictions on Chinese diplomats were “in violation of the Vienna Convention.”
Unidentified State Department officials told The New York Times that the new rule “applies to officials working at all Chinese Missions in the United States and its territories, including at the United Nations.”
Since January 2018, more than 30 China-related espionage cases, including those involving Chinese intelligence officers, former U.S. intelligence officials, Chinese nationals, and naturalized U.S. citizens from China, have made the headlines.
The FBI has more than 1,000 active investigations into intellectual property theft, “almost all leading back to China,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told U.S. senators at a congressional hearing in July.
Beijing’s ambitious “Made in China 2025” industrial plan, which aims to transform the country into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse by the year 2025, targets 10 industries for development, including robotics, aerospace, and biotechnology.
Nicholas Eftimiades, a former U.S. senior intelligence official and author of “Chinese Intelligence Operations,” told The Epoch Times previously that he’s compiled a database of 464 cases of China’s overall espionage efforts around the world, based on public prosecutions.
“Most of ... [the cases] fall into the technologies identified in ‘Made in China 2025,’” Eftimiades said.