Chinese espionage in the United States

The United States has often accused the People's Republic of China (PRC) of attempting to unlawfully acquire U.S. military technology and classified information as well as trade secrets of U.S. companies in order to support China's long-term military and commercial development. Chinese government agencies, affiliated personnel, and civilian-in-name companies have been accused of using a number of methods to obtain U.S. technology (using U.S. law to avoid prosecution), including espionage, exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic and business contacts. Prominent espionage cases include Larry Wu-tai Chin, Katrina Leung, Gwo-Bao Min, Chi Mak, Peter Lee, and Shujun Wang.

In addition to traditional espionage, China uses cyber spying to penetrate the computer networks of U.S. businesses and government agencies, such as the 2009 Operation Aurora and the 2015 Office of Personnel Management data breach. U.S. law enforcement officials have identified China as the most active foreign power involved in the illegal acquisition of American technology.

During its martial law period (1949–1987), the Republic of China government on Taiwan spied on its citizens abroad, especially in the United States.

Since 2000, there have been 224 reported instances of Chinese spying in the United States.