China is now top priority for British intelligence, spy chief says

Says understanding how Beijing pursues its strategic goals is a particularly complex challenge

ASPEN:

Britain's spy chief said on Thursday that China was now the top intelligence priority for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), known as MI6, surpassing counter-terrorism.

Richard Moore, addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said understanding how Beijing pursues its strategic goals was a particularly complex challenge.

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"If you go beneath that strategy in terms of how they implement, how they organise, what their tactical intent is, and then what are the capabilities they're building up -- that's a black box," Moore said.

"And there's a role for organisations like mine in helping British ministers and policymakers to understand that, so they can navigate this really complex, difficult relationship with the Chinese."