FBI reveals Chinese cyber espionage campaign ahead of Biden, Xi meeting

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said China has been targeting commercial telecommunications infrastructure in what they describe as a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign. The joint announcement came three days before President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Peru. 

The FBI and CISA said the People’s Republic of China (PRC) targeted multiple, unnamed telecommunications companies and stole customer call records, private communications of individuals who work in government or politics and also obtained information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders. 

In the announcement, they said they expect to discover the extent of the network breach is even larger as the investigation continues.

The FBI and CISA are working with the companies to render technical assistance and inform victims. They are also working to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector. They are asking any organization that thinks its network may have been compromised to contact their local FBI office. 

During their meeting, the White House said Biden will emphasize maintaining military-to-military communications at all times and the importance of responsibly managing the world’s most consequential relationship. 

Straight Arrow News spoke with Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., who sits on the House Committee on the CCP, about cyber espionage and how President Biden should address it with Xi. 

Johnson’s key points include the following:

• Biden needs to emphasize to Xi that the US does not want a hot or cold war with China, but acts of aggression cannot be ignored. 
• Engagement between the two countries must continue.
• China steals data and uses it to create weapons the U.S. does not fully understand the capabilities of.

The following interview has been edited for clarity. Watch the video above for the full conversation.

Ray Bogan: What should the president’s message be? 

Rep. Dusty Johnson: Clearly, every single day, China is looking to undermine our country and cyber security attacks are a huge part of that. The president has got to be clear with Xi Jinping that we do not seek a hot or cold war with China, but acts of aggression cannot be ignored. I would like President Biden to display some strength. One thing we know about Donald Trump is that he will certainly display strength.

Ray Bogan: This, as you alluded to, is a pattern of behavior. How do you have diplomatic relations with a country that does this on a regular basis? 

Rep. Dusty Johnson: I do know the tendency is to say, “They’re bad people, we want to quit talking to them.”

That makes the world a whole lot more dangerous. Those are the sort of petty fits and tantrums that China will throw. We do something they don’t like so they quit picking up the red phone that link our two militaries. Engagement keeps the world safer. Engagement gives you a mechanism to be able to tell China when their behavior is totally unacceptable. It is important we have lines of communication open, but we need to make it very clear with China that we’re not going to be bullied around, period.

Ray Bogan: And then finally, this particular attack targeted personal information, even call logs. Why should an everyday American care if somebody in China has your call logs?

Rep. Dusty Johnson: China, the Chinese Communist Party, they are experts at using data, piled upon data, piled upon data to put together some really exquisite weapons that we don’t even fully understand the capabilities of, but we know that no enterprise in the history of humankind has ever been able to use data as a weapon like the CCP has. I don’t know what they’re all doing. I know they clearly find some value with it if they’re going to spend tremendous resources in constantly probing our defenses to get in and steal that information.