Spies working either directly or indirectly for the Chinese government are extremely active in the capital of the EU, a government report has said.
A document published by Belgium’s Security Service has found that Chinese spies are extremely active in the country, prompting concerns from politicians in the country which houses Europe’s de facto administrative capital of Brussels.
The report has now prompted concerns amongst some European politicians, with numerous accusations of espionage and illicit influence campaigns within the European Parliament being levelled at the likes of Morocco, Russia, China and Qatar.
According to a report by Belgium’s VSSE security service, the activities of Chinese nationals are of particular concern, with the Communist government’s tight relationship with business interests in its country making it particularly difficult to spot possible intelligence assets.
“China’s activities in our country are not limited to the proverbial spy who steals state secrets or the hacker who paralyzes an essential company or government service from behind his PC,” the government report reads, arguing instead many Chinese intelligence gatherers operate in a “grey zone between lobbying, interference, political influence, espionage, economic blackmail and disinformation campaigns.”
“It involves a whole tangle of interactions with numerous state and non-state players with ties to China,” the service continued. “It is a game in which China is extremely adept because it is a tightly managed country with a strong interdependence between the government and the business world.”
The report goes on to say that many CCP intelligence assets aren’t employed by the government at all, but are merely “Chinese private individuals” who support the government out of sympathy for the Communist regime, or through subtle coercion from state authorities.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 4, 2023
Regardless of the methods, the report has concerned a number of politicians active in Brussels, with one nationalist party operating in Belgium’s Flanders region, Vlaams Belang, telling Breitbart that they are concerned about Chinese spying.
“When one thinks of spies, one often thinks of films such as James Bond, but this is not true,” party representative Kristof Slagmulder said in a statement seen by Breitbart. “Often these are diplomats, lobbyists, journalists, employees, companies or even students who are actively gathering information to pass on to an intelligence officer.”
Calling Brussels a “chessboard for spies”, the Flemish parliament MP went on to call for it to be investigated whether Chinese students in Belgium could be playing a role in CCP espionage efforts, saying that such a class of Chinese migrants can often be overlooked by authorities.
“It may look innocent and nuanced, but in times of conflict all weapons can be used to bring a country to its knees,” he said. “We must therefore keep our knowledge safe and actively work towards a safer Flemish higher education by optimizing and possibly tightening up the procedures for Chinese students.”
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 3, 2023