A new study found roughly 2,500 members of China's military have secretly studied and worked abroad in key western nations, only to return to China and continue their work in the military.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) released its findings Monday, in which it claimed China is particularly targeting members of the Five Eyes international intelligence alliance — which consists of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
"Dozens of PLA [People's Liberation Army] scientists have obscured their military affiliations to travel to Five Eyes countries and the European Union, including at least 17 to Australia, where they work in areas such as hypersonic missiles and navigation technology," the study reads. "Those countries don't count China as a security ally but rather treat it as one of their main intelligence adversaries.
"The activities discussed in this paper, described by the PLA as a process of 'picking flowers in foreign lands to make honey in China,' risk harming the West's strategic advantage."
Examples of how the PLA is executing its scheme include sending PLA-trained scientists from Chinese nuclear institutes, chemical weapons research facilities, and anti-satellite weaponry researchers. Their destinations have ranged from the University of Michigan to England's Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
All of the Chinese nationals who spent time overseas had concealed their military background and ties, according to the report.
The effort is the latest in a series of Chinese moves that show the communist country is flexing its muscles. It is also building artificial islands in the South China Sea, has been accused of shining military-grade lasers at U.S. military aircraft, and is working to expand its military footprint in Pakistan near the Gulf of Oman, a key route for oil tankers coming out of the Persian Gulf.
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