Some media sources report that China’s intelligence agencies currently pay attention to recruit agents among U.S. citizens who already have access to the classified information. And the majority of potential recruits are not limited by the ethnic Chinese living in the United States and having relatives in China.

The priority in this work is aimed at potential candidates among former US special services personnel, the CIA in the first place, which are being searched through the Internet and social networks like LinkedIn. China’s intelligence pays a very special attention to the individuals who do not hide their links with special services and who openly give comments on the processes in the U.S. and able to prove their position with sensitive data. It is noted that CIA ex-directors were targeted by some Beijing backed businessmen.

At the same time a remarkable grow of China’s capabilities to use modern technical equipment to work with their agent network, transferring big data files and hacking computer databases is mentioned. This way, during a visit of the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China in August 2023, China’s intelligence was able to get access to her email and correspondence of the top members of State Department, including the U.S. ambassador.

The FBI direction stated that service at the moment investigates ‘thousands of cases’ of China’s intelligence activities. A number of special groups was created withing the FBI to carry out counterintelligence operations against China, particularly in cyberspace.