Beijing planned ‘spy’ pagoda near Capitol, says FBI
Huawei tech on cell towers was also flagged as a risk to military security in leaked documents reported in US
CHINA wanted to build a 70ft pagoda on a hill close to the Capitol but was stopped amid fears it could be used to spy on the US government, leaked FBI documents show. Beijing had also been attempting to snoop on US military and government facilities using Huawei installations, according to CNN, which first published the story.
FBI investigators said they have seen a “dramatic escalation” of Chinese espionage on American soil and claim technology from the Shenzhen-based company poses a national security risk.
Among the details from the counterintelligence report was that Beijing offered in 2017 to spend $100 million (£83million) to build an ornate Chinese garden at the National Arboretum in Washington DC, with temples, pavilions and a 70ft white pagoda.
But US officials stopped the project after noting that the pagoda would have been strategically placed on one of the highest points in DC, just two miles from the US Capitol – “a perfect spot for signals [for] intelligence collection”.
The Chinese wanted to build it with materials shipped in diplomatic pouches, which US Customs officials are barred from examining.
In its investigation, which dates back to at least 2017, the FBI also warned of the risk posed by Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US military bases in the rural Midwest.
It was revealed yesterday that the Biden administration is investigating the Chinese telecoms manufacturer over concerns cell towers fitted with its equipment could capture sensitive information from military bases and missile silos that could be transmitted to Beijing.
According to multiple sources, the agency determined the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defence Department communications, including those used by US Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons.
“This gets into some of the most sensitive things we do,” said one former FBI official. “It would impact our ability for essentially command and control with the nuclear triad. If it is possible for that to be disrupted, that is a very bad day.”
Huawei, one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world, is registered under the supervision of the Chinese Communist Party. Both the Chinese government and Huawei denied the allegations and the latter said its equipment is not capable of operating in any communications spectrum allocated to the Defence Department.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said: “The US government abuses the concept of national security and state power to go all out to suppress Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies without providing any solid proof that they constitute a security threat to the US and other countries.”