China’s Escalating Espionage Could Put the World at Risk, Analysts Warn

Beijing’s spy agencies could gain hidden footholds in other countries’ critical infrastructure to coerce those nations in a crisis, analysts say.

MI5 states that the ministry’s money is routed through the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) into artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and other research, and that some participants may not know its source.

“MI5 has identified that the primary purpose of CGTRI is to fund academic research that directly improves [MSS] technical capability for espionage,” the agency said.

MI5 said any institution or individual that stays involved in CGTRI-funded work could face criminal consequences under Britain’s National Security Act.

The law was passed in 2023 to give authorities more power to counter foreign espionage and hostile state activity.

“China’s escalating espionage, technology theft and cyberattacks could put the entire world at risk,” Lin Tzuli, director of the Center for China and Regional Development at Taiwan’s Tunghai University, told The Epoch Times.

Lin said these activities could steadily erode corporate competitiveness and individual freedoms, and even weaken nations’ ability to respond to emergencies.

Technicians work on chip processing equipment at a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Suqian, China, on Oct. 20, 2025. STR/AFP via Getty Images

“Data leaks in particular could translate into more sophisticated cross-border surveillance by China,” he said.

Lin said stolen information could also help Chinese spy agencies track the communications and movements of targeted individuals.

“That gives the agencies a hidden foothold inside another country’s critical infrastructure that they can use for coercion in a crisis,” he said.

“The data is analyzed to map social divisions, and content is then spread through fake accounts with synthetic audio and video,” he said.

“This could let the regime rapidly feed different groups tailored messages to polarize the democratic world.”

Responding to MI5’s alert, the Chinese Embassy in the UK denied the accusations as “groundless and purely fabricated” on Sept. 30.

Hubei Provincial offices of the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security in Wuhan. Vmenkov via Wikimedia Commons

Gaping Loophole 

Lee Chung-chih, deputy convenor of the Strategic Industries Program at Taiwanese think tank the DIMEs Center, said universities and research institutes lack the safeguards manufacturers have long used—checking suppliers, down to the connections of their directors and senior executives. That leaves a gaping hole for Beijing to exploit.

“Scholars are hungry for grants but rarely vet who provides them, and they cannot spot money routed through third countries or passed off as someone else’s,” Lee told The Epoch Times.

“Most academic institutions also have no system in place to trace Chinese funds in international projects.”

“Governments need to recognize that Chinese academics abroad can serve as the regime’s agents,” he said.

“Viewing China through the lens of a normal democracy is a fundamental misjudgment.”

Lin said the CGTRI-funded projects serve as cover for obtaining sensitive technology, giving Beijing early access to foreign researchers’ findings and the hands-on expertise behind them.

“AI and cybersecurity research can directly make spying more efficient,” he said.

“Suppliers, contractors and academic collaboration can all become channels for harvesting technology and intelligence.”

Concerns About Academic Independence

Lin said Chinese institutions could tie funding, invitations or data access to demands that foreign scholars rewrite conclusions or drop certain topics, undermining academic independence.

“Australia offers a model, with university security policies that tackle not only research theft and threats to sensitive information but also foreign interference in campus discussions,” he said.

Alexander Csergo arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Australia on Feb. 18, 2026. Alexander Csergo, 56, allegedly provided information to two Chinese spies posing as think-tank workers. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

Lee said Taiwan has even more reason to be wary, as seemingly civilian research could quickly end up serving Beijing’s military.

“For example, data from a seabed geology survey can be turned straight into the underwater terrain and hydrographic maps that submarine warfare needs most,” he said.

Lee said the free world needs a tighter grip on sensitive technology and who ultimately uses it.

“We cannot let the enemy use our own research resources to work out the best way to subdue us,” Lee said.