Brussels, Jan 2 (IANS) The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration campaign across the West is no longer a distant threat but a present reality, marked by deceptive tactics ranging from covert espionage to embedded vulnerabilities, prompting calls for a coordinated Western response, a report said on Friday.
It added that the CCP's deception rests on a dual narrative--presenting itself as a responsible global partner while embedding vulnerabilities, influencing financial flows, and leveraging democratic openness.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration tactics have escalated into a full-blown crisis, exposing vulnerabilities across Western democracies. Recent revelations from covert LinkedIn espionage to hidden remote-control functions in Chinese-made buses underscore the urgency of decoupling from Beijing’s authoritarian grip. Unless Western nations act decisively, the CCP’s deceptive strategies will continue to erode democratic resilience and compromise critical infrastructure,” a report in European Times detailed.
“In the past three weeks, a cascade of revelations has laid bare the extent of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration into Western systems. These incidents are not isolated but part of a broader campaign of ‘unrestricted warfare’, a doctrine Beijing openly embraces to undermine adversaries without conventional military confrontation. The sheer frequency of these exposures signals that the CCP is accelerating its covert operations, forcing Western governments to confront the reality that decoupling is no longer optional but imperative,” it mentioned.
According to the report, the late October 2025 discovery that Chinese-manufactured buses in Norway contained a hidden emergency stop feature capable of remote activation sent shockwaves across Europe.
“This revelation prompted the UK to launch its own investigation into Chinese-sourced vehicles and equipment. Such hidden vulnerabilities highlight how Beijing embeds control mechanisms into civilian infrastructure, creating potential choke points that could be exploited during geopolitical criss,” it stated.
Citing research from the US-based institute AidData, the report revealed that over the past 25 years, Beijing has secretly extended nearly $200 billion in loans to American companies, raising concerns about the CCP’s manipulation of sensitive technologies. These hidden financial links, it said, risk embedding Chinese influence deep within Western innovation ecosystems, particularly in sectors vital to national security.
The report said Western governments confront a stark choice, warning that without defined red lines and accelerated decoupling in critical sectors including information technology, communications, and strategic supply chains, the risks are set to multiply.
“The CCP has demonstrated its commitment to authoritarian expansion, while Western democracies remain hesitant and fragmented. The longer this imbalance persists, the greater the danger that infiltration will metastasise into systemic compromise,” it noted.
--IANS
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