Following the arrest of two Navy sailors on Thursday on charges of spying for China, Representative Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) called on American legislators and federal agencies to respond forcefully.
“It could be incredibly damaging, particularly as the risk of conflict with China over Taiwan — a potential PLA [People’s Liberation Army] invasion of Taiwan increases — there’s no doubt they’re trying to do everything that they can to steal sensitive information and then weaponize that against us,” Gallagher told Fox News during an interview on Saturday.
“We need to raise awareness and make sure we’re guarding against this…It’s fair to say that we let our guard down: really for the last two decades. We got complacent. Slowly, far too slowly, we woke up to the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
“Everyone knows the KGB from the old Cold War, but very few Americas are aware of the MSS— the Ministry of State Security in China…
It’s far larger than the @CIA.
It’s operating widely within the United States.” — Chairman @RepGallagher pic.twitter.com/BlsYK8poXg
— Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (@committeeonccp) August 4, 2023
“The CCP has continued its relentless espionage campaign against America,” Gallagher, the chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, added. “We are slowly waking up to it. But we’re just beginning to scratch the surface in terms of this activity on American soil.”
The Wisconsin representative has become increasingly outspoken about the need for American lawmakers and national-security apparatus to take the threat of Chinese espionage more seriously.
In late February, he sent a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray following the revelation that China operated a surreptitious law-enforcement station in New York City expressing concern that “the illegal operation of PRC [People’s Republic of China] law enforcement in the U.S. is part of the CCP’s broader efforts to undermine American security and extend its techno-totalitarian reach beyond the PRC’s borders.”
On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that two service members, both of Asian descent, were arrested for allegedly spying for China.
“These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the PRC government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement to the press following their arrest. “The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to counter threats from China and to deter those who aid them in breaking our laws and threatening our national security.”