Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, stated that China posed the "biggest long-term threat to our economic and national security" and has meddled in politics, including recent elections.

The chief of MI5, Ken McCallum, stated that his organization had increased its efforts against Chinese activity over the past three years and would continue to do so.

Compared to 2018, MI5 is conducting seven times as many investigations into the operations of the Chinese Communist Party, he added.

Wray of the FBI cautioned that if China were to seize Taiwan forcibly, it would "represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen"

The two directors made their first public appearance at MI5's headquarters in London, Thames House.

McCallum also described the Chinese Communist Party's challenge as "game-changing," while Wray described it as "immense" and "breath-taking."

Wray warned the group, including business executives and university administrators, that the Chinese government was "set on stealing your technology" using various methods.

According to him, it represented "an even more serious threat to western businesses than even many sophisticated businesspeople realised" He described instances in which Chinese-affiliated individuals in rural America dug up genetically engineered seeds that would have cost them billions of dollars and nearly a decade to produce on their own.

In addition, he stated that China used cyber espionage to "cheat and steal on a massive scale," using a hacking program that was larger than those of all other significant nations combined.

The head of MI5 stated that cyber threat intelligence was exchanged with 37 countries and that a sophisticated cyber threat against the aircraft industry was neutralized in May.

Both men cautioned that China was learning from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

McCallum also cited several instances involving China. Among them was a British aviation expert who had been contacted online and offered a lucrative career opportunity. Before soliciting technical information on military aircraft by a corporation essentially a front for Chinese intelligence operatives, he traveled to China twice to be "wined and dined."

McCallum stated, "That's where we stepped in," He also said that one engineering firm had been approached by a Chinese company, which resulted in the company's technology being taken before the agreement was canceled, causing Smith's Harlow to file for bankruptcy in 2020.

And he cited the interference alert issued by Parliament in January regarding Christine Lee's activities. According to him, the purpose of these operations was to boost pro-Chinese communist party views and marginalize those who challenged its power. "It needs to be challenged," the chief of MI5 stated.

In the United States, the FBI director stated that the Chinese government interfered directly in a congressional race in New York this spring to prevent the election of a candidate who was a critic and former protester at Tiananmen Square.

He said they did so by engaging a private investigator to unearth damaging information. When they could not locate anything, he stated that an attempt had been made to create a controversy utilizing a sex worker before recommending fabricating an automobile accident.

Wray stated that China was learning "all sorts of lessons" from the Ukraine war, including attempting to protect themselves from future sanctions similar to those imposed on Russia. He warned that if China were to attack Taiwan, the economic impact would be even worse than this year, with western investments in China becoming "hostages" and supply networks being interrupted.

"I don't have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion," the FBI director told reporters following the speech.

The Director of MI5 stated that new legislation would aid in combating the threat but that the United Kingdom must also become a "harder target" by increasing public awareness of the dangers. According to him, the change in the visa system resulted in the departure of over fifty Chinese military-affiliated students from the United Kingdom.

"China has for far too long counted on being everybody's second-highest priority," Wray said, adding, "They are not flying under the radar anymore."