Image: Wikimedia Commons (Dong Fang, 2012)
The Chinese regime’s covert support of Iran raises serious questions about China’s role in the war and its implications for U.S. national security.
The Gateway Pundit spoke to Col. Grant Newsham, USMCR-Ret., who said the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has maintained “a hands-off approach in its official capacity” regarding the conflict in the Middle East. However, the former Reserve head of Marine Corps intelligence in the Indo-Pacific noted that its private firms, some of which have connections to the military and all of which are under control of the government, actively provide wartime intelligence targeting U.S. forces to Iran.
A report from The Washington Post indicates that certain Chinese companies are combining AI with open-source intelligence (OSINT) to allegedly gather information on the movements of U.S. troops involved in the Iran war. The report highlights the abundance of open-source data accessible, including “flight trackers, satellite imagery, and shipping information.”
When these resources are utilized alongside advanced AI tools developed by Chinese firms, they produce precise intelligence regarding American military resources.
For Newsham, “These operations are nothing less than covert attempts by the PRC to support Iran as it defends against U.S. military actions.” To that end, he recently told Vision times that “the Chinese can claim they have nothing to do with it. But since these companies could not operate without CCP/government approval, the Chinese government has, at best, implausible deniability.”
Nonetheless, he told The Gateway Pundit, “It is nearly impossible to argue that the Chinese intelligence initiatives do not provide strategic support for Iran.”
As noted by Vision Times, supporting Iran is not the sole aim of China’s private companies; Beijing is also reaping considerable benefits from AI-enhanced OSINT initiatives. Sahar Tahvili, a Europe-based author and expert in industrial AI systems, told the newspaper, “Iran becomes a battlefield laboratory, generating real-world data that no simulation can replicate.”
Newsham agreed, saying, “This strategy is focused on broadening China’s geopolitical influence, ensuring energy supplies, and putting AI systems through their paces in active conflict zones without direct—or at least easily detected—involvement, [adding that] it also makes life difficult for the United States military and government.”
“The information they collect is useful for an American adversary, such as the Iranians,” he shared. “However,” he said, “the information provided directly to Iran by the Chinese government via the PRC’s satellite networks is even more useful for targeting purposes.”
For this reason, the retired Marine Corps officer asserted, “One should expect that the PRC will use some of these ‘private’ companies as conduits for intelligence from the PLA and Chinese security and intelligence services—in Iran and other conflict zones in the future.”
“This is cognitive warfare in a certain respect,” Newsham admitted. “It creates a degree of worry and even paranoia on the part of China’s adversaries who believe they are constantly being ‘watched’ and cannot operate without the PRC knowing their every move.”
Newsham is author of the 2023 book “When China Attacks: A Warning to America.”
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