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done to compile a database of 22.1 million US government employees for further use. For the last three
years, China has been especially aggressive on espionage and the 2017 killing or imprisoning of dozen
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of US sources in China might be related to the OPM breach. Other explanations also incriminate a mole
within the CIA or the crack of the encrypted method of communication between the CIA and its field
assets.
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Nevertheless, since the 2015 US-China deal on electronic espionage, Chinese hacks dropped and their
attacks are now particularly focused on critical infrastructure across Asia in India, Indonesia, the
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Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. All these countries are part of the BRI project
or are related to political interests in Hong Kong and Japan. Beijing is probably trying to get entry points
within governments and critical infrastructure to have better leverage in the medium and long term. The
fear of cyber economic espionage, notably in Germany, the UK and Australia, pushed similar “non cyber
attacks” deals.
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George Orwell 2020

Regarding its domestic policy, the communist party is obsessed with control. It tries to control citizens’
lives in every possible way to avoid liberty, protest, alternative thinking, initiative, or unpredictability. The
PRC combines legislation and technological actions to censure and regulate the Internet domestically.
For example, the new Cyber Security Law that came into effect in 2017 gives the Chinese government a
greater oversight over the cyber space architecture. For example, in some parts of the law, the language
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is vague and imprecise, which could be invoked by the authorities for inspections, even into proprietary
technologies or intellectual property, compromising business secrets and sensitive information.

On top of the “Great Firewall” that limits access to websites on the global Internet (like Facebook or
Google) and the “Green Dam”, a software package installed on personal computers to monitor online
activity, the government devised a new way to enforce obedience among the citizenry: Sesame Credit.
The social credit system app collects data to measure how much the user follows the party line. For

17 NAKASHIMA Ellen. “Hacks of OPM databases compromised 22.1 million people, federal authorities say”, The Washington Post, Jul 9, 2015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/09/hack-of-security-clearance-system-affected-21-5-million-people-federal-authorities-say/
18 MAZZETTI Mark. “Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations”, The New York Times, May 20, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/world/asia/china-cia-spies-espionage.html
19 MAZZETTI Mark. “Killing C.I.A. Informants, China Crippled U.S. Spying Operations”, The New York Times, May 20, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/world/asia/china-cia-spies-espionage.html
20 VASAGAR Jeevan. “Chinese hackers shift focus to Asia after US accord”, Financial Times, Apr 26, 2017
https://www.ft.com/content/c8e634fa-2a31-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7
21 SMYTH Jamie. “Australia and China in pact against cyber theft”, Financial Times, Apr 24, 2017
https://www.ft.com/content/9df81164-28b5-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7
22 MUNCASTER Phil. “Foreign Firms Should Fear New Chinese Cyber-Law: Report”, Infosecurity Magazine, Sep 1, 2017
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/foreign-firms-fear-new-chinese/

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