Rhodes: China Is ‘Much More’ Aggressive with Spying in Preparation for Possible War

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” former Obama Deputy National Security Adviser and NBC News Political Contributor Ben Rhodes stated that the information China was trying to get from two Navy sailors was information in preparation for a possible U.S.-China conflict and China’s recent espionage activities are examples of “China going really much more aggressively at trying to prepare for a potential military contingency with the United States” over Taiwan.

Host Andrea Mitchell said, “Two Navy sailors arrested, very briefly, there have been hacks of Commerce and the State Department and a New York Times report of a deeper concern about malware embedded in our military.”

Rhodes responded, “And if you look at the arrests, these were people that were passing naval secrets, Navy exercises, the nature of our ships, the nature of our bases. That is China seeking to get information in anticipation of a potential conflict. And the same thing is true with the malware. This is China going really much more aggressively at trying to prepare for a potential military contingency with the United States, which is, of course, alarming.”

Mitchell then asked Rhodes if he was referring to a potential conflict over Taiwan, and Rhodes stated that he was.

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