Allied intelligence warn of Chinese military recruitment

Intelligence agencies from five allied nations have issued a joint warning that China’s military intelligence services are conducting a widespread online recruitment campaign to target current and former government and military personnel. The alert, issued by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the United Kingdom’s MI5, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and their counterparts in Australia and New Zealand, details a sophisticated operation exploiting professional networking and job-hunting platforms.

According to the agencies, operatives pose as employees of seemingly legitimate private consultancies, think tanks, or human resources firms, often claiming to be based outside of China. They post job advertisements for roles such as foreign policy or defence analysts on sites including LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork. The campaign aims to recruit individuals who possess, or have access to, sensitive information that could benefit China’s strategic interests.

Officials state that while applicants may not have direct access to classified material, successful candidates are pressured to provide nonpublic information. This can include unclassified data on government policy,...