Joe Rogan has warned that China is infiltrating US universities to “steal data and information” from students studying abroad.
The podcaster spoke to former CIA officer Mike Baker about the double standards of viewing America and China in the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, which aired Wednesday.
He claimed the country could influence universities in the US by sending hundreds of thousands of students here to study.
Rogan, 56, said they then collect information and sometimes get caught, but nothing is done about it.
US intelligence officials have long warned that the country is at risk of espionage and theft of secrets by the Chinese.
Joe Rogan has warned that China is infiltrating US universities to “steal data and information” from students studying abroad.
US intelligence officials have long warned that the country is at risk of espionage and theft of secrets by the Chinese
“China has such a huge impact on America, it’s crazy how different the playing field is in what we’re allowed to do,” Rogan said.
“Americans, for example, can’t own companies in China, they can’t own land in China, they can’t buy real estate — but China can do all of these things here.”
“They can influence our universities, they bring their students here, their students siphon data and information and a lot of times they get caught, it’s kind of crazy.”
In the 2021-2022 academic year, nearly 300,000 Chinese students were studying at American universities.
Current and former US intelligence officers, lawmakers and experts have warned that Beijing is relying on its scientists, companies and students to infiltrate and gather information.
Former CIA director Gina Haspel warned in 2019 that China intends to “reduce US influence to further its own ends.”
The intelligence community’s World Wide Threat Assessment, released in 2021, said, “We anticipate that China’s intelligence community will exploit the openness of American society, particularly academia and the scientific community, through various means.”
For more than a decade, concerns have been raised that US universities are soft targets for foreign intelligence agencies, which use students and staff to gain access to new technology.
Instead of using trained spies, Chinese intelligence agencies reportedly used students to act as “access agents” or “covert influencers,” revealed Joe Augustyn, a former CIA officer.
In October 2021, the Ministry of Justice indicted four Chinese nationals for conspiracy.
Rogan claimed China can influence universities in the US by sending hundreds of thousands of students here to study and gather information
Current and former US intelligence officers, lawmakers and experts have warned that Beijing is relying on its scientists, companies and students to infiltrate and gather information
It was alleged that they worked to recruit university professors, federal law enforcement officials and state homeland security officials to work as agents for the Chinese government.
A 29-year-old UCLA math student was arrested in 2020 on suspicion of trying to hide his ties to the Chinese government.
He was suspected of having passed sensitive software to the Chinese military.
In 2018, the National Institutes of Health warned educational institutions of the danger of covert espionage.
“The integrity of biomedical research in the United States is at risk.” “NIH recognizes that some foreign institutions have established systematic programs to influence new researchers and reviewers,” it said.
“This type of improper influence is not limited to biomedical research; “It has been an important topic for defense and energy research for some time.”
One of the US Navy sailors charged with spying for the Chinese did so because his mother urged him to get a real job, prosecutors claimed.
Jinchao Wei, 22, was allegedly told that leaking secrets about American military strategy and technology to Beijing would help him land a job with the Chinese Communist Party when he left the Navy.
Chinese-born Wei was serving on the San Diego-based USS Essex when he was arrested under the Espionage Act along with 26-year-old Corporal Wenheng Zhao on Aug. 2.
The pair reportedly made up to $15,000 each by sharing dozens of photos and technical manuals with Chinese intelligence for more than a year.
Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard said at a bail hearing that Wei’s mother encouraged him to betray the US when he returned to Wisconsin for Christmas.
Jinchao Wei served on the USS Essex and is said to have sold her secrets to Chinese intelligence
Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard said Wei was encouraged to betray the US while serving on the USS Essex
Wenheng Zhao, 26, reportedly leaked secrets for nearly two years before being arrested earlier this month
Chinese spies have been an issue in Britain following claims that China has sent a spy to infiltrate a briefing on Hong Kong dissidents in the House of Commons.
A man claiming to be a tourist tried to prevent the private event on the top floor of Westminster’s maximum-security Palace in July.
He attempted to attend a meeting held by Finn Lau and Christopher Mung in front of around 50 journalists, colleagues and MPs. He left after a short break.
Mr Lau and Mr Mung are among three exiled Hong Kong activists on whom the city’s Beijing-controlled police have placed a £100,000 bounty on their heads.
Pro-democracy activists accused the gate-breaker of being a Chinese Communist Party whistleblower who wanted to film, stalk and harass those attending the event.
It was examined by heads of parliament and the question of Chinese spies was debated in the lower house.
At least 50 Chinese students left the UK between 2020 and 2022 after the UK tightened its procedures to prevent the theft of sensitive academic research.
The chief of Britain’s MI5 spy agency said he had “more than doubled” his efforts against Chinese activity as part of a joint alert with the FBI.
He added that the “most game-changing challenge” has come from an “increasingly authoritarian Chinese Communist Party” targeting secrets and intellectual property across the West.