PST: China spends considerable resources on intelligence in Norway

Despite the fact that Norway is a small country far from China, Kristian Takvam Kindt, head of PST’s counterintelligence department, says that Norway is more exposed to espionage than ever.

It has become a regular occurrence in the annual threat assessment from the country’s security services that there is a warning regarding increased intelligence activities from Russia, Iran and perhaps especially China.

– We want to get out with messages related to what we see from Chinese intelligence in Norway. That we know they are active today, know what they are interested in and how they operate. What we can say regarding this at an ungraded level, explains Kindt.

Follows Arendalsuka

In four weeks, the annual Arendal Week will start, where thousands of politicians, lobbyists and interest groups will meet. The week before, a large international research conference for the electronics industry is also held in Kristiansand. PST monitors the intelligence threats linked to both events.

– China is one of the countries with which Norway has the most cooperation in the field of technology and scientific research, so it gives room for action here, and we know that this is a method they use, Kindt tells NTB.

– Yes, what we generally warn once morest is that Chinese researchers who are affiliated with universities that we know collaborate closely with the Chinese military, would have to come to be able to obtain knowledge that they can then use directly to develop Chinese military capabilities, he adds .

Multiple tries

Two weeks ago, PST arrested a 37-year-old man for attempted espionage for the Chinese intelligence service. The Oslo district court found the police’s evidence once morest the man convincing and granted the investigators’ request for four weeks in custody.

On Tuesday, the period of isolation in custody expired, but PST did not request an extension of this. In theory, the man can have social contact with other inmates following this.

Kindt emphasizes that it is the ongoing investigation and possible trial that will clarify whether the 37-year-old has been guilty of a criminal offense or not.

In any case, PST does not refer to the case of the 37-year-old as a unique case.

– It can be said that there is a significant intelligence threat that will increase over the next few years. That assessment stands, without me being able to go into how many cases we have had this year, says Kindt.

– But there are cases – it’s not just this one current case?

– I can say that in recent years we have seen several attempts. Without being able to pinpoint the exact time. The person who has been arrested is something we believe was an attempt. But beyond that, there have also been others, and that we expect it will continue to increase, says Kindt.

Three areas

In PST, people are more concerned with protecting the secrets, than sitting on the fence and waiting until the offense has occurred and the intelligence leak has been carried out. At the same time, China knows very well how to exploit legal opportunities in democratic Norway to get into a position to obtain information.

There are three areas in particular where PST sees active Chinese intelligence activities in Norway:

* One is within the technology area – civil and military technology or civil technology that is also used for military purposes.

* The second is activity to curb political opposition, which involves stopping or suppressing critical voices once morest the regime in Beijing PST has also seen how representatives of the regime have tried to threaten or prevent Chinese dissidents from speaking out.

Legal methods

* The third is that China tries to gain insight into, and tries to influence, political processes that are relevant to China. In Norway, this may apply, among other things, to Nordic policy, energy policy and Norway’s security and trade policy with foreign countries.

– We see that one of the things that is challenging regarding dealing with China, for a security service, is that they use a number of legal means such as acquisitions and investments, but which can still pose a security risk for national security interests, says Kindt.