#ukrainerussia #MI6 #chinarussia
China was 'complicit' in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the head of MI6.
At a rare public appearance organized by POLITICO in Prague on Wednesday, the head of the U.K.'s Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) claimed that China and its communist leader Xi Jinping are "absolutely complicit" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Richard Moore, also known as "C" in the intelligence community, accused China of supporting the military junta in Myanmar's cruel activities and foresaw dangers posed to other nations by Chinese "data traps" and technical advancements.He claimed that MI6 now prioritizes taking on China above all else.
Moore told POLITICO senior editor Anne McElvoy that the Chinese "very clearly supported the Russians" when Putin invaded Ukraine. They have cynically repeated all of the Russian talking points, especially in regions like Africa and Latin America — blaming NATO and all of this stuff. They have also abstained in significant United Nations votes.
However, Vladimir Putin's authority and reputation in Russia have suffered as a result of this backing.What might have happened, and this makes many Russians very uneasy, he speculated, "is that the balance of power between them has shifted." It's difficult to look at them and fail to notice that one is now in a strong position of subordination to the other.
The Chinese Communist Party frequently asserts that it is a neutral party in the conflict despite having presented a widely mocked "peace plan" for Ukraine.
Chinese authorities referred to their nation's foreign policy as "tao guang, yang hui," or "hiding one's light and biding one's time," from the late 1970s until approximately a decade ago.
Beijing, however, has abandoned this caution under chairman Xi Jinping and has grown more assertive internationally while stepping up repression at home.
Moore told POLITICO on Wednesday, "We now devote more resources to China than anywhere else." "The Chinese intelligence agency's resources and size are enormous, and they deploy overseas in large numbers."
He cautioned that China has set up "data traps" for other nations that undermine their sovereignty and make them more vulnerable, and Beijing demanded nations to exchange vaccination data during the pandemic as a condition of receiving Chinese vaccinations.That particular agreement condition, according to Moore, "should raise red flags."
He also pointed out that China had certain advantages in the development of artificial intelligence due to its unrestricted access to enormous data sets at home and its practice of illegally "hoovering up" data from other countries.
The Chinese government, he claimed, "is not overly concerned with issues of personal privacy or individual data security; instead, they are focused on controlling information and preventing uncomfortable truths from coming to light." But "my service, together with our allies, intends to win the race to master the ethical and safe use of AI," he continued.
Beijing is supporting a number of questionable and corrupt authoritarian governments around the world, including Iran and Myanmar, in addition to supporting Russia's conflict on Ukraine, he claimed.
"On Myanmar, what is occurring in that magnificent nation is horrible; it is profoundly, deeply tragic. China is that dictatorship's main backer, and I fear that they do have culpability because without their assistance, it's difficult to imagine how the regime could continue to function.
The U.K.'s foreign intelligence organization did not exist in reality from its creation in 1909 until 1994, with the exception of James Bond movies and spy books. However, MI6 has started to partially lift the curtain in recent years.
The engagement with POLITICO at the Prague residence of the British ambassador was Moore's second such address in public while serving as C.
It featured a livestream and a podcast discussion with McElvoy, a co-author of a biography on an East German spymaster and an expert on the Cold War.Moore has decided to make just one public appearance this calendar year.
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