NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
Chinese and other adversary intelligence services have increased spying and illegal operations in the U.S. over the past 18 months, with the FBI neutralizing 60 Beijing agents during that period, FBI Director Kash Patel told Congress on Tuesday.
China posed the most significant foreign intelligence threat, along with Russia and Iran, and “all are working to erode our institutions, and each is growing bolder and more capable,” Mr. Patel said in prepared testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The FBI director said that so far in fiscal 2026, which ends Sept. 30, a total of 72 counterintelligence arrests were made, a 9% increase from the previous period, and 80 foreign intelligence agents were removed from the country, an increase of 125%.
In the past 18 months a total of 130 counterintelligence arrests were made, a 52% increase, Mr. Patel said, and nearly half — 60 — were Chinese-related spying or other illegal activity cases. The cases represented an 88% increase in Beijing national security cases, he said.
Among the more significant China cases was the FBI’s first artificial intelligence-powered trade secrets conviction involving a Google engineer who tried to funnel AI technology to China, Mr. Patel said.
In January, a federal jury in San Francisco found former Google engineer Ding Linwei, guilty of stealing the tech giant’s AI technology.
Ding, a Chinese national, was part of a team that designed and maintained Google’s AI supercomputer data system. He was convicted of trade secrets theft and economic espionage but received the relatively light sentence of one year in prison.
The engineer was recruited by China under its Thousand Talents program that seeks to buy high-technology secrets and expertise from U.S.-based experts.
Ding founded an AI technology company in China, and among the Google files he stole were trade secrets described in an indictment as related to hardware infrastructure and a software platform that allowed Google’s supercomputing data centers to train and serve large AI models.
Another case mentioned by Mr. Patel was the discovery of seven Chinese researchers in Michigan caught trying to smuggle biological material into the U.S. Five of the suspects have been deported, he said.
“In February, the FBI arrested a former U.S. Air Force pilot accused of supplying unauthorized defense information to Chinese military aviators — a betrayal that put both our service members and our national security at risk,” he said.
The FBI states on its website that countering nefarious Chinese intelligence operations is the top priority for its National Counterintelligence Task Force and multiple FBI-led, field-based Counterintelligence Task Forces. The agents conduct what the director said is a whole-of-government approach to countering foreign spies that collaborates with other U.S. intelligence agencies and federal and local law enforcement.
“Counterintelligence operations against nation-state adversaries mitigate grievous risk to U.S. national security,” Mr. Patel said. “U.S. adversaries, including Russia, the [People’s Republic of China], and Iran continue to undermine our core institutions, and they are becoming more aggressive and more capable.”
Disclosure of the growing Chinese intelligence threat comes as both President Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche have sought to play down Chinese spy threats in recent days.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump was asked if he would raise the issue of China supplying intelligence on U.S. bases in the Middle East to Iran when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
“They basically do what we do,” he said of Chinese spying. “You know, when they say that China spies on us, I say, you’re right. And we spy on them, too. You know, we spy on them, too.”
It was the second time in a month the president dismissed security concerns over Chinese spying.
Last month Mr. Trump told reporters, “We hear they’re spying. We spy on them too. So it goes.”
Mr. Trump hopes to conclude a trade deal and improve relations with Beijing during a meeting next week in Washington.
Mr. Blanche told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the president’s good relationship with Mr. Xi Jinping is separate from China’s bad actors — people and companies engaged in stealing American technology.
The espionage and technology theft by China existed before the Trump administration and will exist for the next several years, he said.
“The Department of Justice and other agencies in the executive, of course, we’re doing everything we can to combat that and to go after that in the right way,” Mr. Blanche said. “But I don’t think it’s fair to just label China as a country. There’s bad actors in China that are doing it, which we’re definitely going to go after.”
The first Trump administration estimated that China’s theft of American technology is valued at losses of between $250 billion and $600 billion annually.
Justice warns foreign agents to register days before protests at Xi-Trump summit
The Justice Department on Wednesday issued a warning to foreign agents that failing to register with the U.S. government could result in prosecution for conducting threatening demonstrations, propaganda or other subversive activities.
The warning was published a week before a visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Xi Jinping — a visit that is suspected to set off large-scale anti-communist and human rights protests along with potential Beijing-backed pro-Xi counterprotests.
The department statement said it is a reminder that federal law requires those in the U.S. acting under the direction or control of foreign governments will face civil and criminal penalties for failing to register.
Federal agents will not violate the free speech rights of people who express opinions publicly, the statement said.
“At the same time, the department is committed to upholding the rule of law and keeping our country safe against all enemies, both foreign and domestic,” the statement said.
The 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act and a separate federal statute make it a crime to act as a foreign agent without first registering with the Justice Department.
The laws are designed to aid in preventing foreign governments from using covert agents, intermediaries, false affiliations, covert funding and other deceptive activities “to illegally influence public debate, suborn sedition, or interfere with official proceedings,” the statement said.
“If a person acts as an agent of any foreign power to carry out any public activity, including (but not limited to) public demonstrations designed to further the propaganda or other goals of the foreign power, he or she must register with or notify the appropriate federal authorities,” the statement said.
Failure to register can result in criminal penalties of up to five years in prison.
The warning comes amid planned protests in Washington by a coalition of 29 human rights groups, including Freedom House, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, Uyghur American Association, Campaign for Uyghurs, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong Watch, International Campaign for Tibet, ChinaAid, Amnesty International USA and others.
The groups published an open letter to Mr. Xi on Wednesday calling for the release of several imprisoned dissidents in China, including Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai.
China’s government, meanwhile, is working to foment pro-Xi counterprotesters.
The Epoch Times reported that recruiters linked to the Chinese embassy and pro-China business groups have been working through Chinese-language online chat groups offering free flights, hotels, meals and cash to line Mr. Xi’s motorcade waving Chinese flags.
Organizers quoted by the news outlet said the goal is to explicitly employ “human walls” and flags to drown out anti-Xi protesters’ banners and chants.
The tactic was used during Mr. Xi’s 2023 visit to San Francisco when anti-communist protesters clashed violently with Chinese Communist Party-aligned protesters.
Then-FBI Director Christopher A. Wray called the violence a CCP encroachment “on our national sovereignty by exporting their repression and human rights abuse onto our shores.”
Reports, rumors of Xi Jinping illness swirl
Unconfirmed internet reports and rumors say Chinese President Xi Jinping suffered some type of health-related incident during his recent visit to India.
Mr. Xi was seen grimacing in video and photos during a meeting of BRICS leaders in New Delhi on Sept. 12. The Chinese leader was asked by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at one point during his remarks, “Is it OK?” — raising questions over a medical emergency.
Mr. Xi left on Sunday and Taiwanese news outlets reported that he appeared to walk stiffly or slowly with difficulty climbing the stairs to his Air China Boeing 747 jet, with one report claiming he appeared to show apparent weakness on his left side.
The most explosive report came from the X account of Chinese opposition figure Xie Wanjun, chairman of the dissident and outlawed China Democratic Party.
Mr. Xie wrote that based on Mr. Xi’s fear of Indian authorities gathering his health data, he refused emergency treatment after fainting during the BRICS summit and had suffered a stroke.
The Chinese leader is said to have been taken to the special Beijing 301 Hospital for emergency treatment after arriving in China and that the delay in treating the stroke symptoms had worsened his condition.
“Currently, after completing surgery at Beijing’s 301 Hospital, Xi Jinping is under observation in the ICU and has not yet escaped life-threatening danger,” he stated.
One of the wild rumors is that the leadership vacuum has set off a mobilization among rival People’s Liberation Army groups that are preparing for civil war in a post-Xi power struggle.
So far there is no official comment from Beijing on Mr. Xi’s health. Government spokesmen in the past have dismissed questions about Mr. Xi’s health problems by stating they have no information.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a House hearing on Tuesday that he will meet this weekend with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng ahead of the Sept. 24 summit between President Trump and Mr. Xi.
A likely first question from Mr. Bessent at the meeting will be about the health of Mr. Xi and whether the Washington summit is still on schedule.
A Chinese Embassy spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• Contact Bill Gertz on X @BillGertz.
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