FBI Director Christopher Wray is sharing an eye-popping statistic about the number of investigations into China his agency is conducting, and the frequency with which they are being opened.
During Wednesday’s testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats, Wray highlighted the threat he says China poses to the nation’s economic security and “democratic ideas.”
“I have testified previously that I don’t think there is any country that presents a more severe threat to our innovation, our economic security, and our democratic ideas and the tools in their toolbox to influence our businesses, our academic institutions, or governments at all levels,” he said.
He continued to recount the FBI’s indictment of a Chinese operative in conjunction with “the Chinese ‘Operation Fox Hunt.'”
In October 2020, the Department of Justice indicted eight people for allegedly working with the Chinese government to facilitate an “international campaign to threaten, harass, surveil and intimidate” Chinese citizens to convince them to return to their home country.
Wray continued, “It’s an indication, an illustration of just how challenging and diverse this particular threat is. We have now over 2,000 investigations that tie back to the Chinese government. And on the economic espionage investigation side alone, it’s about a 1,300% increase over the last several years.”
“We’re opening an investigation into China every 10 hours — and I can assure the committee that’s not because our folks don’t have anything to do with their time,” he added.
Watch the video below:
The FBI opens a new investigation into China "every 10 hours" and has more than 2,000 current investigations tied to the Chinese government, Director Christopher Wray tells Congress. https://t.co/EKkXeUhKev pic.twitter.com/MnpSasrcHw
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 14, 2021
An annual intelligence report released on Tuesday warned that China poses the greatest threat to the U.S.
As The New York Times reports, “The report does not predict a military confrontation with either Russia or China, but it suggests that so-called gray-zone battles for power, which are meant to fall short of inciting all-out war, will intensify with intelligence operations, cyberattacks and global drives for influence.”
Wray’s comments come during the first Senate hearing on worldwide threats in more than two years.