Amid the restructuring of the global order that has been accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the evolving position of China had been lost in the fog of war. The heads of the UK’s security service (MI5) and US Federal Bureau of Investigation sought to disperse this fog with a rare joint press conference warning of the “immense threat” from China.
Public speeches by heads of intelligence services are not as rare as they once were, but they are uncommon. The optics of a shared public platform was to underline the magnitude of the importance of the message. So, what is the realistic threat from China and how should we interpret it?
The MI5 director general Ken McCallum said in the briefing that they are now dealing with seven times the number of investigations involving China compared to 2018. He said: “The most game-changing challenge we face comes from the Chinese Communist Party. It’s covertly applying pressure across the globe.” Similarly, the warning issued about theft of intellectual property and influence in key western elections are hot button issues. But the real question of interest is: why are we being asked to particularly worry now?
