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Chinese MSS/ More powerful than the CIA, FBI and MI6 combined?!

2026-02-23 16:40:00, Blog CNA

The Chinese MSS, with 800,000 agents and global operations, outnumbers the CIA, FBI and MI6 combined and is one of the most “fearsome” actors in the world. Here’s what we know about it:

In an era of new global rivalries, the war for information has become as crucial as the war for territory. At the center of this invisible battle is China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), an intelligence apparatus that, according to many analysts, is expanding its influence around the world in an unprecedented way.

With recruitment networks that extend from social media to state structures, and with operations that touch on technology, defense, and international politics, the MSS is increasingly seen as one of China's most powerful instruments of strategic influence in the 21st century.

A recent episode of espionage that took place in Greece has brought the powerful Chinese intelligence apparatus, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), back into the spotlight. What happened in the shadows of Athens? Here are the facts, briefly: a Greek air force commander admitted to being recruited via LinkedIn by a Chinese agent, identified as “Steven Wayne,” who introduced himself as a representative of a technology company.

The collaboration, initially harmless and related to studies for a front website, quickly turned into pressure and blackmail to obtain confidential information on telecommunications applications and platforms, without any payment.

Sophisticated recruitment methods

According to the Greek portal Protothema, MSS uses sophisticated recruitment methods, including social media searches, job postings and shell companies, to attract experts in the defense, technology and communications sectors, with particular attention to the United States, NATO member countries and Taiwan.

The Greek case has highlighted the global reach of the ministry, which, according to experts, is involved in espionage and influence operations at many levels, from controlling domestic dissidents to gathering strategic information on international adversaries.

How many CIA, FBI and MI6 combined

The MSS is unparalleled in the West: it combines the functions of the CIA, FBI, and MI6 into a single apparatus, with some 800,000 agents and over 220 documented operations in the United States alone, as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has pointed out. From 2000 to March 2023, for example, the same institution carried out cyber espionage activities, technological theft, agent recruitment, and infiltrations in critical sectors such as aerospace, communications, and military security.

Një aspekt tjetër i rëndësishëm është se MSS vepron në mënyrë të decentralizuar: ndërsa selia qendrore ndodhet në Pekin, operacionet në Shtetet e Bashkuara drejtohen nga Byroja e Sigurisë së Shtetit e Shangait, ndërsa ato në Evropë nga Byroja e Sigurisë së Shtetit e Zhejiangut. Kombinimi i spiunazhit kibernetik, mbledhjes së të dhënave dhe fushatave të dezinformimit dixhital e bën këtë “agjenci” një nga më agresivet në botë.

Si funksionon MSS

Shtrirja dhe ndikimi i MSS janë zgjeruar edhe më shumë që kur ministria drejtohet nga Chen Yixin, një aleat i ngushtë i Xi Jinping. Që nga viti 2013, nën udhëheqjen e Xi-t, agjencia ka intensifikuar operacionet ndërkombëtare dhe të brendshme, duke përditësuar ligjet e sigurisë dhe duke zgjeruar kontrollin e brendshëm.

Por si funksionon kjo ministri?

MSS përqendron shumicën e burimeve të saj në katër objektiva kryesore: kontrollin e disidentëve të brendshëm, mbikëqyrjen dhe presionin ndaj Tajvanit, spiunazhin kundër Shteteve të Bashkuara dhe operacionet e ndikimit në vende të tjera, përfshirë anëtarët e NATO-s.

Sipas Financial Times, përdorimi i kombinuar i teknologjisë së avancuar, sulmeve kibernetike, rekrutimit të synuar dhe propagandës dixhitale e vendos MSS-in si një aparat pa precedent, “më i fuqishëm se CIA, FBI dhe MI6 së bashku”, i aftë të veprojë pa pengesa në mbarë botën dhe të përfaqësojë një sfidë të paprecedentë për sigurinë perëndimore./ bota.al