US officials: China poses serious national security threat
WASHINGTON — Cyber threats from China and its theft of intellectual property from American companies pose large economic and national security challenges for the United States, national security officials said Wednesday.
Officials from the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security told the Senate Judiciary Committee that China is working to steal trade secrets and intellectual property from U.S. companies in order to harm America’s economy.
“We cannot tolerate a nation that steals the fruit of our brainpower,” Assistant Attorney General John Demers said.
Bill Priestap, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, said federal officials are doing everything they can to convey the current threat to business leaders and government officials.