Are the Chinese preparing to start a war?

New reports of military-age Chinese males coming across the border and then disappearing into the interior are everywhere. There are concerns that at least some of these individuals are saboteurs and intend no good. Is this paranoia or are the Chinese preparing to start a war? Are they focused on bringing the fight to our shores?

It sure seems so.

Chinese hackers are developing the “ability to physically wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure at a time of its choosing,” FBI director Christopher Wray said recently. He added that the hackers are waiting “for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow.”

Understand what the man is saying. He is not talking about Chinese actors hacking into systems and stealing credit card numbers. He is not talking about Chinese spies stealing the designs for the Air Force’s new fighter jet. He is saying that the Chinese have penetrated computer systems all over the country and their express goal is to physically attack those systems as part of an assault on this nation.

The Chinese are well down the road to being able to shut down the electrical grid, turn off the water, and turn off our communications. Take a moment as you read this and contemplate what America looks like the moment after that happens. The lights are out. The telephone system is out. Banks can’t operate, so you have no money. You can’t fill up your car. Planes aren’t flying. You can’t call 911, and the police can’t respond. Your computer is a paperweight. The grocery store will not be restocked and is probably already being looted.

You now live in the 16^th century, and unless you are a real prepper, you are not prepared to make it in that world.

Per Wray, the Chinese hacking campaign, known as Volt Typhoon, has embedded itself successfully in American critical infrastructure companies that include telecommunications, energy, and water. It has done so via long-term persistent attacks. That means in some cases the Chinese have been inside these systems for five years undetected.

“Its [China’s] plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic,” Wray said last week at the 2024 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats. This is not the first time Wray has sounded the alarm nor is he alone in his concerns.

Microsoft and Google security experts have previously linked Volt Typhoon to China, and Wray has said the effort is connected to U.S. – Chinese tensions around Taiwan.  In February, testifying before Congress, Wray said the Chinese intend to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities.”

“There has been far too little public focus on the fact that PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers are targeting our critical infrastructure – our water treatment plants, our electrical grid, our oil and natural gas pipelines, our transportation systems. And the risk that poses to every American requires our attention now,” Wray told Congress.

It is worth quoting Wray’s recent comments at Vanderbilt at length –just to make sure we all understand precisely what he is saying.

“Vanderbilt’s choice to focus this year’s summit on the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China echoes the Bureau’s own assessment of that threat — an assessment we’ve been beating the drum on for years — because, from the FBI’s perspective, these threats are not over the horizon. They’re upon us now.”

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