China's armed forces, scientists and spies pose an “increasing threat” to Britain, one of the UK’s top spooks warned today.
Chief of Defence Intelligence Adrian Bird, a former director-general at the Government's eavesdropping station GCHQ, issued a chilling assessment of Beijing’s mounting power to take on the West.
In a rare public speech, he outlined how the “UK must be alive on our term to the challenges being presented by China”.
He told the Royal United Services Institute think tank: “China will compete more directly with the UK across our areas of interest and will be capable of disrupting supplies of key technologies and materials, such as microprocessors, semiconductors and rare earth elements.
“Its military, intelligence, space and science capabilities pose an increasing threat.
“Within this world of increasing competition, we assess that China will present the greatest challenge to the UK’s overseas interests and economic security in 2030.”
Speaking at the Army and Navy Club in central London, Mr Bird warned that Britain’s “adversaries” were exploiting new technologies to boost their military might.
Smaller nations can now get their hands on hi-tech gear that previously only top powers could hope to possess, he said.
“The pace of technological change will allow our adversaries and competitors to achieve a rapid evolution in their capability to challenge the UK and our interests - and we must keep pace,” Mr Bird told defence and security experts.
“The continued development of advanced weapons systems will challenge us and, unlike in previous decades, we cannot expect advanced militaries to maintain a monopoly on the use of these advanced systems.
“Commercially-available technology will provide future adversaries with increasing access to cheaper, potentially-lighter and stealthier capabilities which, when deployed in greater mass, will present credible threats.”
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