The Five Eyes Alliance Photo: VCG

The US is escalating its global campaign to smear and hype the "China threat" in intellectual property and artificial intelligence (AI) development in a rare move of collusion with its allies under the intelligence sharing bloc Five Eyes to accuse China of intellectual property theft and using AI for hacking and spying against the nations.

As the largest, most powerful and aggressive intelligence network in the world, Five Eyes' shifting blame and slandering China over intelligence issues is absurd and untenable and has the aim of demonizing China's development in cutting-edge technology, Chinese analysts pointed out. They believe a best way to fight back is to make unremitting innovation and stay open to cooperation in related fields worldwide.

The intelligence chiefs of the Five Eyes countries - the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - came together on Tuesday to make the above-mentioned accusations against China in a rare joint statement following meetings with private companies in the US innovation hub Silicon Valley, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

US FBI Director Christopher Wray said the "unprecedented" joint call was meant to confront the "unprecedented threat" China poses to innovation across the world.

From quantum technology and robotics to biotechnology and AI, China was stealing secrets in various sectors, the officials claimed, according to the Reuters report.

In response, the spokesperson for Chinese Embassy in Washington Liu Pengyu said in a statement to Reuters that the country was committed to intellectual property protection.

"We firmly oppose the groundless allegations and smearing of China and hope the relevant parties can view China's development objectively and fairly," said Liu.

Reuters noted that the US has long accused China of intellectual property theft and the issue has been a key sore point in China-US relations. But this is the first time that the Five Eyes members have joined publicly to call out China on it.

However, the US and its allies' accusations are untenable, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The Five Eyes Alliance led by the US is the largest intelligence network in the world, Lü said. 

"In fact, from time to time, the US has deliberately demonstrated to the outside world that it has the strongest intelligence capabilities," he continued. 

It is the alliance that is pursuing its global intelligence coverage by hook or by crook, at the same time, trying to shift blame and smear China, analysts denounced.

They warned the US-led intelligence bloc that using smear and suppression tactics against competitors is not effective in the long run as these tactics will foster a mentality of gaining without effort, fundamentally suppressing their own innovation capabilities. 

Current global technological progress is at a crucial juncture, and the progress made by China is evident. The US is attempting to hinder China's technological advancement by suggesting that it has been achieved through unfair means, aiming to tarnish China's reputation and impede its cooperation with other countries, analysts pointed out.

China has made significant advancements in information technology, quantum computing and biotechnology, and is even leading in certain areas compared with the US. In light of this, the recent statement by the Five Eyes alliance demonstrates their lack of confidence and their attempt to obstruct China's progress, Lü said.

"The Five Eyes alliance has previously demonized Chinese telecommunications companies, and now they seek to further demonize China on the forefront of AI. They are attempting to ideologize China's technological progress," Lü said.

In this context, what China pursues is independent innovation in an open environment, and China should stay more open to regional and global cooperation on cutting-edge technology, said the analyst.

Citing an example of the Chinese tech giant Huawei, which overcame the chip-related besiege this year, Lü stressed that achieving real progress in the global high-tech innovation is the best response to the US and its intelligence allies.