Competing with Intelligence: New Directions in China's Quest for Intangible Property and Implications for Homeland Security

Abstract

The United States faces a growing national security threat from Chinese corporations that employ robust competitive intelligence (CI) programs to enhance illegal company- or government-directed espionage and intellectual property (IP) theft and infringement. The complicated and global character of this phenomenon requires the U.S. government rethink the traditional intelligence community (IC) approach to collection and analysis of intelligence on China and the implications for homeland security. This article draws upon Chinese literature on CI to examine the role of CI in helping China to conduct industrial espionage and acquire U.S. IP. The author explores whether the study of Chinese CI can elucidate future trends in Chinese industrial espionage and provides recommendations on some of the steps the U.S. government and industry can take to deter industrial espionage and IP infringement and improve the protection of proprietary information.