A risky hunt for secrets

 

September 18, 2023 Continue reading the main story SUPPORTED BY META

By Natasha Frost Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We’re covering the espionage shadow war by China and the U.S., and an interview with the president of Finland.

Plus: A delicious Cantonese noodle dish.

Under Xi Jinping, China has a new tolerance for bold action by its spy agencies.Marco Longari/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A risky hunt for secrets

China and the U.S. are taking bold steps in their espionage shadow war to try to collect intelligence on leadership thinking and military capabilities.

For the U.S., espionage efforts are a critical part of President Biden’s strategy to constrain China’s military and technological rise. For Beijing, the new tolerance for bold action among Chinese spy agencies is driven by Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, who has pushed his foreign intelligence agency to become more active in farther-flung locales.

U.S. officials have honed their ability to intercept electronic communications, including using spy planes off China’s coast. Chinese agents use social media sites — LinkedIn, in particular — to lure potential recruits, and China even has artificial intelligence software that can detect the gait of an American spy.

Context: The spy game between the U.S. and China is even more expansive than the one that played out between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War, Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, said. China’s large population and economy enable the country to build intelligence services that are bigger than those of the U.S. Sauli Niinisto, the president of Finland.Pete Marovich for The New York Times ‘A wake-up call’ for Europe and NATO In an interview with The Times, Sauli Niinisto, the president of Finland, warned European leaders and citizens against becoming complacent over the risks of escalation, including the use of nuclear weapons, in Russia’s grinding war against Ukraine. Niinisto, the person considered most responsible for bringing his country into the NATO alliance, is nearing the end of his 12 years as the president of a nation that shares an 830-mile border with its imperialist neighbor, Russia. The invasion, he said, had been “a wake-up call” for Europe and NATO. Recalling Finland’s conflicts with Moscow, including the 1939 Winter War, when the Finns fought off the Soviets but had to cede territory, and World War II, Niinisto said European countries that had let down their defenses after the collapse of the Soviet Union made a grave mistake. The latest: In the most significant recent advance in Ukraine’s hard-fought counteroffensive, the military said it had retaken the small village of Klishchiivka, the second settlement to come back under Kyiv’s control in three days. Rosh Hashana: Every year, thousands of followers of the spiritual leader Rebbe Nachman of Breslov descend on the Ukrainian town of Uman to worship, dance and pay homage at his tomb. RECOMMENDATIONS Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Make soy sauce noodles with cabbage and fried eggs.