Experts Say China’s Cyberattacks To Intensify

China will not stop its cyberespionage campaign against America any time soon, an expert told CNBC. Michael Fuchs, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said the attacks will continue for the foreseeable future.

“I think it is very fair to say that China sees this cyberespionage for economic purposes as a necessary component of its national strategy to grow economically and to become a more powerful country, and that it is not going to stop — at least not with the current set of pressure that is being exerted by the U.S. and others,” he said.

The U.S. recently charged two Chinese men for allegedly stealing intellectual property from technology companies and military organizations. Prosecutors also accused them of stealing personal info from 100,000 people in the Navy. The charged men were allegedly working with the Chinese government. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and Britain condemned Beijing for spying.

China responded on Friday (Dec. 21) that it fiercely opposes the prosecutors’ allegations and called them “slanderous.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said China has a singular goal: “China’s goal, simply put, is to replace the U.S. as the world’s largest global superpower.”

The U.S. and China are currently embroiled in a trade war that is already complicated by the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei.

Fuchs said that bringing charges against the Chinese was the Trump administration’s way of trying “to apply more pressure on China across the board.”

China’s president, Xi Jinping, gave a recent speech where he struck a defiant tone toward other countries.

Xi “made it very clear that the (Communist) party being in control of the country is the most important thing in China going forward, that he is going to continue, and the party will continue on the same economic path that they have been on in recent years,” Fuchs said.