A report by the GOP Senate reveals that China tried to build a network of informants inside the US Federal Reserve. As per the reports published by the Republican staff members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, the Chinese government tried to get its hands on internal sensitive information from the Federal Reserve.
To achieve it, China was reported to have built a cult of insider informants inside the reserve to loot the information. But the reports, however, did not mention whether the government was successful in its mission. As the reports came out, it also caused the detention of a Federal Reserve employee.
China’s mission dates back to 2013
The report stated that China’s mission dates back to 2013 and that the government has been trying to bribe US-based economists to get insider information in exchange for other benefits, including money.
According to the report, thirteen Federal Reserve workers operating across eight of the Fed’s 12 sites were classified as the “P-Network” by a Federal Reserve investigation that found them to be of possible anxiety.
The report highlights that one of the key P-Network members was detained multiple times and his phone and laptop were hacked during his China trip to trace the contact information of other connected Fed officials.
There is also a reported close relationship between the Fed employees and the People’s Bank of China and the media outlets, which the US officials claim to have paved the way for economic spying.
As per the reports, one Federal Reserve employee had also initiated actions to transfer huge volumes of unapproved data to an external source, but it is unclear whether it was successful. However, Jerome Powell, the Fed Chairman didn’t agree with the report and strongly opposed it in a letter written to Portman.
“We are deeply troubled by what we believe to be the report’s unfair, unsubstantiated, and unverified insinuations about particular individual staff members.” “We are confident that Federal Reserve staff understand their obligations and are committed to maintaining both the confidentiality of sensitive information and the integrity of our workforce.”
Powell said