Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks to the media during a news conference at FBI Headquarters on June 14, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
FBI Director Christopher Wray gave a speech today at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. in which he laid out "more detail on the Chinese threat than the FBI has ever presented in an open forum."
Why it matters: China's increasingly aggressive behavior under General Secretary Xi Jinping is ringing alarm bells in the U.S.
Details: Wray described the multi-pronged efforts they have seen from China to take advantage of Americans and of U.S. innovation and technology, including the Equifax hack, theft of sensitive military technology, pressure to self-censor, and economic coercion applied to state and local-level U.S. elected officials.
- "If you are an American adult, it is more likely than not that China has stolen your personal data. ... Our data isn’t the only thing at stake here — so are our health, our livelihoods, and our security," he said.
- "We’ve now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counterintelligence case approximately every ten hours."
Context: Wray's speech is the latest in a series by top U.S. officials about how the Chinese Communist Party threatens U.S. interests and prosperity.
- White House national security advisor Robert O'Brien emphasized similar points in a speech in Arizona on June 24.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr are also slated to give China-focused remarks within the next few weeks.
Wray said Americans should keep three things in mind:
- China's leaders believe they are in a "generational fight" to make China the "world's only superpower by any means necessary."
- Beijing uses a diverse set of methods to achieve its goals, including economic espionage, intelligence gathering, pushing for censorship at universities, and "malign foreign influence," referring to covert and coercive attempts to make powerful people advocate for China's interests in the U.S.
- China is taking advantage of America's open system, while preserving its own closed system, such as by working through ostensibly private Chinese companies to achieve state goals.
Of note: Wray avoided a phrase he had used several times before in public remarks — that China poses a "whole-of-society" threat to the U.S.
- This phrase came under heavy criticism from Asian-American groups and others who said it was dangerously over-expansive and could subject Chinese people themselves to needless suspicion.
- In this speech, Wray instead said that China is taking a "whole-of-state" approach.
- Yes, but: Wray did call for a "whole-of-society response" to China's efforts.
The bottom line: "All these seemingly inconsequential pressures add up to a policymaking environment in which Americans find themselves held over a barrel by the Chinese Communist Party," Wray said.
Go deeper: