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China says ‘multiple espionage cases’ have been uncovered in space sector

  • Intelligence agency says it exposed ‘despicable acts of certain countries’ trying to infiltrate and steal secrets
  • Social media post does not identify which countries were involved in the cases or give any further details

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A rocket carrying a satellite for space environment monitoring lifts off from northwest China on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
China’s top intelligence agency on Friday said it had cracked down on “multiple” espionage cases in the space sector in recent years, amid an ongoing national security drive.
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The Ministry of State Security said in a post on its WeChat account that it had “uncovered multiple espionage cases in the aerospace sector, exposing the despicable acts of certain countries’ intelligence agencies attempting to infiltrate and steal secrets from our aerospace field”.

The ministry said the cases involved the use of inducement and coercion to try to steal the country’s latest research findings in the sector, and that its efforts had prevented “core secrets” from being leaked.

“Certain countries regard our nation as a major competitor in the space field and spare no effort to contain and suppress us,” the agency said, adding that China had developed and was widely using satellite remote sensing, communication, navigation and positioning technologies.

The post did not identify which countries were involved in the cases or give any further details.

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It said space had become a “strategic” area for geopolitical rivalry and that space assets were national assets that had to be managed and protected.

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