Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Europe, starting this Sunday, comes at a rather awkward time. European police and intelligence agencies have been uncovering and arresting an astonishing number of alleged Chinese spies in a tidal wave of counterespionage activity in recent weeks, underscoring the well-known fact that Beijing targets the West with prodigious intelligence operations.
Complaining to Xi about the problem, however, is unlikely to make any difference. Back in 2014, when then-U.S. President Barack Obama visited Beijing, he addressed already growing concerns about Chinese spying. A year later, when Xi went to Washington, the two leaders formally agreed to stop cyber-espionage for the purposes of stealing intellectual property, another issue of great concern to the West and one of the Chinese economy’s signature paths to superpower status.
That agreement went on to have a positive impact, at least in the short term, when it came to industrial espionage.