Publicly, President Vladimir Putin from Russia states that the country’s growing friendship with China is unshakable – a strategic military and economic collaboration that entered a golden age.
But in the corridors of Lubyanka, headquarters of the Russian Domestic Security Agency, known as FSB, a secret intelligence unit refers to the Chinese as “the enemy.”
This unit, which had not been released earlier, warned that China represents a serious threat to Russian security. His officers say Beijing is increasingly trying to recruit Russian spies and obtain sensitive military technology, sometimes attracting disgruntled Russian scientists.
Intelligence officers say China is spying on Russian military operations in Ukraine to learn about Western weapons and tactics. They fear that Chinese academics are preparing the ground for claims on Russian territory. And they warned that Chinese intelligence agents are carrying out the Arctic espionage using mining companies and university research centers such as coverage.
Threats are detailed in an internal eight -page FSB planning document, obtained by The New York Timeswhich defines priorities to contain Chinese espionage. The document has no date, which raises the possibility of being a draft, although by context it seems to have been written at the end of 2023 or early 2024.
The cybercrime group Ares Leaks obtained the document, but did not reveal how. This makes it impossible for definitive authentication, but the Times He shared the report with six Western intelligence agencies, all of which considered it authentic. The document offers the most detailed view of the thought of the Russian counterintelligence about China. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow’s new bond with Beijing has changed the global balance of power. The rapid expansion partnership is one of the most important and opaque in modern geopolitics.
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Russia survived years of western financial sanctions after the invasion, contrary to many politicians and experts who provided the collapse of the country’s economy. This survival is largely due to China.
China is the largest client of Russian oil and provides essential computer chips, software and military components. When Western companies fled Russia, Chinese brands entered to replace them. The two countries say they want to collaborate in various areas, including film production and construction of a moon base.
Putin and Xi Jinping, Chinese leader, stubbornly seek what they call the partnership “without boundaries”. But FSB’s ultra -secret memorandum shows that there are actually limits.
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“You have political leadership, and these guys are all in favor of approaching China,” said Andrei Soldatov, a specialist in Russian intelligence services that live in exile in Britain and reviewed the document at the request of the request of Times. “You have intelligence and security services, and they are very suspicious.”
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment. The China Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for commentary on the document.
The Russian document describes a “tense and dynamically under development” intelligence battle in the shadows between the two seemingly friendly nations.
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Three days before the Ukraine invasion in 2022, the FSB approved a new counterintelligence program called “ENTENT-4,” the document reveals. Codinome, an apparent ironic reference to the growing friendship between Moscow and Beijing, disguised the true intention of the initiative: to prevent Chinese spies from mining the Russian interests.
The moment almost was certainly not accidental. Russia was diverting almost all of its military and espionage resources to Ukraine, more than 4,000 miles from its China border, and probably feared Beijing would try to take advantage of this distraction.
Since then, according to the document, the FSB has observed China doing just that. Chinese intelligence agents intensified efforts to recruit Russian officers, experts, journalists and businessmen near Moscow power, the document says.
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To contain this, the FSB instructed its officers to intercept the “threat” and “prevent the transfer of important strategic information to the Chinese.” Officers were ordered to hold face-to-face meetings with Russian citizens who work closely with China and warn them that Beijing tried to take advantage of Russia and obtain advanced scientific research, according to the document.
FSB ordered “constant accumulation of information about users” of the Wechat Chinese message application. This included hacking spy targets phones and analyzing data on a special software tool maintained by an FSB unit, the document says.
The possible long -term alignment of two authoritarian governments, with a combined population of nearly 1.6 billion people and armed with about 6,000 nuclear warheads, generated deep concern in Washington.
Some members of the Trump administration believe that by approaching Putin, Washington may begin to push Russia away from China and avoid what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “two nuclear powers aligned against the United States.”
“I’ll have to disunite them, and I think I can do that too,” said Donald Trump just before his election in November. “I have to disunite them.”
Putin Cortejou Xi for years, in more than 40 personal meetings, and has consolidated a much deeper partnership with China since the invasion of Ukraine. Both countries have natural economic synergy, with Russia being one of the largest energy producers in the world and China the largest consumer.
This represents a delicate challenge for Russian counterintelligence agents. The document shows that they try to contain the risks posed by Chinese intelligence without causing “negative consequences for bilateral relations.” Officers were warned to avoid any “public mention of Chinese intelligence services as an enemy potential.”
China aims at the secrets of war and Russian scientists. Shortly after the Russian troops crossed the border to Ukraine, Chinese defense companies, and Chinese intelligence institutes began to reach Russia. The goal, according to the FSB document, was to better understand war.
China has world -class scientists, but its army has not fought a war since a one -month conflict with Vietnam in 1979. The result is anxiety in China about how its army would be against Western weapons in a conflict by Taiwan or the Southern Sea of China.
Chinese intelligence officers are eager to understand Russia’s struggle against an army supported by the West. “With particular interest to Beijing is information on combat methods using drones, modernization of their software and methods to combat new types of Western weapons,” says the FSB document, adding that Beijing believes that the war in Ukraine will be prolonged.
The conflict has revolutionized technology and war tactics. The document also shows that Russia is very concerned about how China sees the war in Ukraine and tries to feed Beijing’s spies with positive information about Russian operations. And orders the Russian counterintelligence operatives to prepare a report for Kremlin about any possible changes in Beijing’s policy.
Western leaders accused China of providing essential components for Russian weapons and working to hide it. The FSB document supports this allegation, stating that Beijing proposed to establish supply chains for Moscow to circumvent western sanctions and offered to participate in the production of drones and other unspecified high -tech military equipment.
The document does not say whether these proposals were made, although China has provided drones to Russia.
Moscow fears Beijing tries to advance over his territory. Russia has long feared the Chinese invasion along the shared border of 2,615 miles. And Chinese nationalists have been contested nineteenth -century treaties in which Russia attached large portions of land, including the current Vladivostok.
This issue is now of central concern, with Russia weakened by war and economic sanctions and less capable than ever to contain Beijing. The FSB report raises concerns that some academics in China are promoting territorial claims against Russia.
China seeks traces of “old Chinese peoples” in the Far East Russian, possibly to influence local opinion favorable to Chinese claims, says the document. In 2023, China published an official map that included Chinese historical names for cities and areas within Russia.
The FSB ordered officers to expose such “revanchist” activities, as well as China attempts to use Russian scientists and research funds for research aimed at attributing historical affiliation to border lands. “Perform preventive work regarding Russian citizens involved in these activities,” orders the memorandum. “Restrict entry into our country to foreigners as a measure of influence.”
China worries Russia in Central Asia and the Arctic. Concerns on China’s expansion are not limited to the borders of the Far East Russian. Central Asian countries responded to Moscow during the Soviet era. Today, reports FSB, Beijing has developed a “new strategy” to promote Chinese mild power in the region.
China began to implement this strategy in Uzbekistan, according to the document. Strategy details are not included except to say that it involves humanitarian exchange. Uzbekistan and neighboring countries are important for Putin, which sees the restoration of the sphere of Soviet influence as part of its legacy.
The report also highlights China’s interest in the vast Russian territory in the Arctic and the North Sea Route, which accompanies the northern coast of Russia. Historically, these waters were very cold for reliable navigation, but they are expected to become increasingly busy due to climate change. The route reduces transport time between Asia and Europe. Developing this route would facilitate the sale of Chinese products.
Historically, Russia has tried to maintain harsh control over Chinese activity in the Arctic. But Beijing believes that Western sanctions will force Russia to resort to China to maintain its “aged Arctic infrastructure,” according to the FSB document.
The Russian Giant Gas Novatek depends on China to save its liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic, after previously used the American oil company Baker Hughes.
The FSB states that Chinese spies are also active in the Arctic. The report says Chinese intelligence is trying to obtain information about Russian Arctic development, especially using higher education institutions and mining companies.
But despite all these vulnerabilities, the FSB report makes it clear that compromising China’s support would be worse. The document clearly warns officers that they must receive approval from the highest spheres of Russian security before taking any sensitive action.
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