WOT! China Spying On Us??? Never...

"They make the KGB look like they were the junior varsity or freshman team." Sounds like China spies on us a little

By Dan Calabrese  Wednesday, March 20, 2013

It’s a comforting thought when you tell yourself that, in the post-Cold War era, we really don’t have any enemies in the world. Delusion feels great for as long as you can sell it to yourself. Time’s up! A Chinese scientist working at NASA’s Langley Research Center has been arrested by federal agents after he was pulled off an airplane with a laptop and other computer data that may have contained sensitive military secrets, according to a member of Congress. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) identified the NASA contractor as Bo Jiang. He is listed as a “research scholar” on the website of the National Institute of Aerospace, a non-profit Langley contractor. “What they did here potentially could be a direct threat to our country,” Wolf told Discovery News in a telephone interview. “The Chinese have the most comprehensive spying program in Washington that has ever been. They make the KGB look like they were the junior varsity or freshman team.” The Chinese were allegedly obtaining information that Jiang would smuggle out of the country on a NASA-owned laptop. Jiang had access to a source code for high-tech imaging technology through his contractor relationship with NASA. Republican Congressman Frank Wolf is concerned that NASA is getting sloppy about who it does business with because it’s trying to get around congressional budget cuts: Wolf said he was concerned that NASA was not taking the threat seriously, and that the agency was allowing access to foreign nationals by using a contractor. “I remain concerned that Mr. Jiang was employed by NIA allegedly at the direction of NASA officials in an apparent attempt to circumvent appropriations restrictions the Congress has in place to prevent the hiring of certain foreign nationals of concern,” Wolf said. Wolf is asking for a comprehensive investigation by an outside agency, including more information about Chinese nationals that are working at U.S. research labs and other NASA facilities and have access to sensitive data. The days of U.S./Soviet spy vs. spy intrigue seems like a long time ago. But the truth is that the United States has never stopped having enemies who were interested in spying on us and sabotaging us. We no longer have a singular, clear adversary that is useful for the crafting of media narratives, but in many ways China is just as great a threat to us as the Soviets ever were. They certainly consider their geopolitical interests to be at odds with ours, and are clearly not afraid to press for advantage using any means at their disposal. By the way, how does it affect such a dynamic when you owe your rising enemy $800 billion? Just asking.