We can focus on "real issues" while also recognizing the active espionage and cyber-warfare being conducted by the Chinese. Healthcare is a huge priority for them and it is not hard to find cases of them setting up state security agents as professors to induce masters and phd candidates to perform spying while working at e.g. NIH.

China's reputation for business and state espionage is not some racist or xenophobic trend; it comes from years of them performing said espionage.

My favorite Chinese cyber espionage story is the one that was just randomly found when a team was conducting a routine pen-test.

Darknet Diaries source: https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/21/

Can you link me to that case? It sounds very interesting but my Googlefu is weak...

Not specifically the NIH, but someone was recently arrested trying to take work from a hospital's cancer research lab back to China: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/12/30/chinese-medical... The article mentions that the NIH has 180+ active investigations, although it sounds like those are based more on funding sources than straight-up espionage

I don't understand why anyone would spy on the NIH. It isn't like they work in secret. Every bit of work done by their scientists and grant recipients will end up published in the appropriate journal.

Spying can mean more than just gathering information. Subversion and control of our institutions seem desirable goals for example.

China has reached a point of influence where they are able to effect censorship within western countries. Do you not consider that a real issue?

https://bgr.com/2019/10/09/blizzard-hong-kong-ban-china-cens...

https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/china-censorship-nba-south...!

Over 20 companies: https://mashable.com/article/china-censorship-companies-hong...

I don't see how that's relevant?

Also, I'm sure it's not you're intent, but questioning me about why I don't dislike China for reasons other than the things being discussed is pretty Mccarthy-esque... Am I not loyal unless I support this arrest?

You're accusing people of irrational fear of china and the poster is challenging you with evidence that the fear is rational. If you assumed good faith your "loyalty" is not relevant.

This is exactly correct. Thank you.

unishark said it better than I could

"You're accusing people of irrational fear of china and the poster is challenging you with evidence that the fear is rational. If you assumed good faith your "loyalty" is not relevant."

> Re: Huawei

Remember Stanford physics professor Shoucheng Zhang?

"The close timing of Zhang’s death with the USTR report’s release — as well as the same-day arrest of the CFO of Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company now under fire for sanctions fraud — has fueled doubt within Chinese media that the scientist’s death occurred of his own accord."

https://www.stanforddaily.com/2018/12/30/following-stanford-...

You correctly observe that there is a fake-issue that distracts people, but then you suggest a number of other issues to focus on that could be just as distracting and seem just as fake as the first.

There are different types of fundings - some encourage you to find matching sponsors, some forbids you to do that explicitly.

Excuse me- the DoD has always had rules about foreign financial interests. Yes, 10 years ago, they had these rules. Your comment is absolutely ridiculous and ignorant.

> To me, the whole China "thing" seems like a political witch hunt to avoid talking about real issues (impeachment, the 2020 elections, automation, the fact we have no idea what to do with all the people we can't find jobs for).

The whole China thing started even before Trump got elected. Trump has been critical of China for decade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jdIshuoRBQ , Trump repeated this message in Primary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy9iY6CvAHU

The trade war started in 2017: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/the-us-china-trade-war-a...

FBI director stated China is No.1 threat in 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPi2uD__Ga8 , also: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-threat-to-america-fbi-...

No. It has nothing to do with impeachment or the 2020 election.

It does seem to harken back to McCarthyism when put in that context, doesn't it?

I’m not really seeing the parallel. Unlike McCarthyism, this specific instance involves actual law breaking with enough factual basis that the government believes will result in a conviction.

It does. And as somebody who has harshly criticized Chinese domestic and foreign policy in the past on HN, I agree that cracking down on academics and technologists because of the behavior of their government is anti-intellectual and just as harmful here as it is there.

We need to simultaneously be vigilant against the dangers of other countries exploiting our confident and open stance, and also always keep our empathy for the people being oppressed by their states. I don't think that it's a balancing act, but a matter of dismantling the neoconservative and bleeding-heart-liberal mindsets, and finding a more holistic treatment of immigration and ethnic management; namely, less treatment. Over and over again, we interfere when our interests are violated, but avoid giving everybody a seat at the table when we re-assign the land; instead, we need to communicate more and interfere less.

...I'm going to have to think about this more, though, because as stated, this is a BDS strategy, and I'm not sure whether I endorse BDS strategies.