These remarks are Fleming’s latest public warnings about Beijing’s behavior and aspirations. Last year, he said the West must fight to prevent China from dominating important new technologies such as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and genetics. Fleming will say China’s leaders were driven by fear of their own citizens, freedom of expression, free trade and open technology standards and alliances, “the whole open democratic order and rules-based international system.”
“They are trying to secure their advantage through size and control,” Fleming will say at the Royal United Services Institute think tank’s annual security lecture, according to his office. “That means they see ways to control the Chinese people rather than looking for ways to nurture and unleash the potential of their citizens. They see nations as either potential adversaries or potential client states to be threatened, bribed or coerced.
That fear, combined with China’s strength, is driving the country “to take actions that could pose a great threat to all of us,” he said. China has already called similar accusations by Western governments baseless and politically motivated smears. Fleming will also discuss technologies he says China plans to use, such as developing a centralized digital currency to monitor users’ transactions and potentially circumvent sanctions Russia has faced since its invasion of Ukraine.
It will also point to Beidou, China’s answer to the U.S. GPS navigation system. “Many believe China is building a powerful anti-satellite capability designed to deny other nations access to space in the event of a conflict,” he will say. “And there are concerns that the technology could be used to track people.