UK spy chief says rise of China world’s top security issue

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The head of Britain’s cyber-intelligence agency is accusing China of using its economic and technological clout to clamp down at home and exert control abroad. GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming says Beijing is trying to “rewrite the rules of international security” in new and alarming ways. In a rare public speech, Fleming accused Beijing of using technologies such as digital currencies and satellite systems to control China’s population and increase its influence around the world. Relations between Britain and China have grown increasingly frosty in recent years, with U.K. officials accusing Beijing of economic subterfuge and human rights abuses. British spies have given increasingly negative assessments of Beijing’s influence and intentions.