Beijing Vows Countermeasures After CIA Says It’s Rebuilding Spy Networks in China

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday that Beijing would take countermeasures in response to the CIA saying it’s making progress on rebuilding spy networks inside China after losing assets in the country over a decade ago.

CIA Director William Burns made the comments last week at the Aspen Security Forum. “We’ve made progress, and we’re working very hard over recent years to ensure that we have strong human intelligence capability to complement what we can acquire through other methods,” he said, according to The South China Morning Post.

Responding to Burns’ comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “This is rather concerning. The US on the one hand keeps spreading disinformation on so-called ‘Chinese spying and cyber attacks,’ and on the other hand tells the public about its large-scale intelligence activities targeting China.” She added that China will “take all measures necessary to safeguard national security.”