The Last Line of Defense America Under Siege: Inside China's Espionage Campaign in the United States
Jan 14, 2026
David R. Shedd, former Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of The Great Heist, dives into the alarming rise of Chinese espionage activities in the U.S. He highlights significant cases like naval convictions and Tesla software theft, illustrating the vast implications of stolen intellectual property. Shedd also discusses the chilling Volt Typhoon initiative, which aims to infiltrate critical infrastructure, and the urgent need to protect 'crown jewel' technologies from these threats. It's a riveting look at modern espionage and national security.
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MSS Focuses Deeply On The United States
- China vastly expanded the Ministry of State Security under Xi since 2013 and treats the U.S. as a primary target.
- MSS combines human espionage, cyber, and technical collection focused on Bureau 18 for the United States.
Concrete Cases Show Diverse Collection Methods
- The convicted U.S. sailor in San Diego photographed and removed Navy data for Chinese intelligence.
- Other operations included students smuggling pathogens and teams stealing seeds from Iowa farms for replication.
Two Major Cyber Campaigns Serve Different Purposes
- Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon are long-running global campaigns spanning many countries, not single intrusions.
- Salt Typhoon targets telecom metadata while Volt Typhoon embeds capabilities in critical infrastructure for potential disruption.
