US Sees 1,300% Rise in Chinese Economic Espionage Cases in 10 Years - Intel Official

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) The United States has seen a dramatic increase in economic espionage activity involving China, with the number of cases under investigation increasing by 1,300 percent over the last 10 years, a senior US intelligence official told reporters on Friday.

"We have seen about a 1,300 percent increase in cases related to economic espionage and China over the last 10 years," the official said during telephonic press briefing.

The problem is "too large," and Washington has tried to solve it through intensive communication with Beijing, the official said.

"We have about 2,000 active counterintelligence investigations tied to China," he said. "We open a new case about once every 10 hours.

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About 60 percent of the economic espionage cases under investigation have "some connection to China," a senior Justice Department official said during the same briefing.

On Wednesday, the US State Department confirmed to Sputnik that it has ordered China to close by the end of the week its consulate in Houston over accusations that it has engaged for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations in the United States.

China has denied the accusations and criticized the United States for various violations of international law. China has also said that the United States has been inciting hatred toward Chinese nationals, resulting in multiple threats made to the embassy in Washington.