American officials are reportedly taking precautionary measures to prevent Chinese intelligence from spying on Americans during the upcoming potentially historic denuclearization summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, U.S. officials declared.
Beijing is not expected to be privy to discussions between the United States and North Korea in Singapore, likely prompting China to try to intensify its efforts to infiltrate the negotiations via spies.
NBC News reports:
Chinese espionage against the U.S. has become more pervasive than that of any other adversary, current and former U.S. intelligence officials tell NBC News, and the Singapore summit is the latest spy-vs.-spy battleground.
The Chinese, who have been known to bug everything from hotel keys to the gifts given to American visitors, are expected to deploy their increasingly sophisticated repertoire of intelligence gathering techniques, both human and electronic, in Singapore.
NBC News reveals that the Trump administration is trying to ensure the Chinese are unable to employ the various intelligence gathering tools they have used in the past ranging from “bugged hotel keys to ‘friendship’ pins to spy on Americans — and they’re getting better at it all the time.”
“China remains a particularly aggressive espionage actor and is using increasingly sophisticated technology platforms to carry out its objectives,” Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the Office of the Director counterintelligence agency, told NBC News.
U.S. officials are reportedly proceeding as if China will deploy spies all across Singapore, where Trump is expected to discuss with Kim taking significant steps towards the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Kim has expressed a willingness to consider the U.S. proposal as his country is suffering from unprecedented global sanctions devastating his nation.
NBC News identifies top areas of concerns for the U.S. at the summit as China recruiting informants among the staff of restaurants and bars to keep tabs on Americans,bb the U.S. experts are worried about China’s capabilities to plant budget the hotel hosted the event, and lastly:
Chinese intelligence agencies have shown the ability to penetrate mobile phones even when they are off, and U.S. officials are now told to take their batteries out when they are concerned about eavesdropping, according to a U.S. intelligence official.
“Chinese intelligence collection could be amped up around the summit,” Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff for CIA Director Leon Panetta who now serves as an analyst at NBC News, declared. ”They have prioritized surveillance in recent years, and their technical prowess has advanced
“China remains a particularly aggressive espionage actor and is using increasingly sophisticated technology platforms to carry out its objectives,” said Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the DNI’s new counterintelligence agency.