Canada v China

Just as I posted my last story on New Zealand I noticed the following in Editorial: The spy business is alive and well:

SIS head Warren Tucker said government computer systems had been hacked into by foreign states. Information had been stolen and hard-to-detect software installed that could be used to take control of computer systems, he said.

Mr Tucker would not name the culprits. But he did refer to recent comments by Canada's security service about Chinese spying. Canada's spy-meister, Jim Judd, has said that almost half his security intelligence efforts were focused on that country's spies.

Canada, eh? Next I found China is top espionage risk to Canada: CSIS:

Almost half the effort the country's spy-watchers put into monitoring suspicious foreign activity in Canada is devoted to Chinese operatives... Jim Judd, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said... 15 countries account for most of the concern when it comes to foreign intelligence-gathering or interference in Canadian affairs.

He wouldn't identify all those countries, but did tell senators that China tops the list...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, when he was still Opposition leader, claimed there were up to 1,000 Chinese agents in Canada.

He quoted a CSIS official as saying that Chinese spies stole $1 billion worth of technological secrets every month.

Last year, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said he wanted a crackdown on Chinese espionage. MacKay is currently on a China visit.

In a 2004 report, CSIS said Chinese economic espionage targeted information including contract details, supplier lists, planning documents, research and development data, technical drawings and computer databases.

Foreign students and scientists, business delegations and immigrants were among those recruited as informants, the spy agency said.

Only Australia needs to be mentioned now.

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