Interview
China and Russia: MI6’s top concerns
- MI6 anticipates increasing openness while maintaining its core mandate to operate as a secret intelligence service.
- Assessments of Vladimir Putin indicate a belief in spheres of influence and a perceived right to restrict the sovereignty of neighboring states.
- Despite Russian attempts to impose limits, neighboring countries are not expected to accept such restrictions.
- There is a strategic hope that an invasion of Ukraine will not proceed, though Ukraine is assessed as being more capable of resistance than in 2014.
- An invasion would result in significant economic and financial consequences for the Russian population, building upon existing sanctions from 2014.
- Operations regarding China are identified as the service's most critical priority, driven by China's growing global influence and the urgent need to understand its trajectory.
- MI6 plans to pursue a positive agenda involving trade and cooperation on transnational issues such as climate change and biodiversity, while simultaneously asserting values and interests where they conflict with China's.
- Climate change is characterized as the paramount global challenge facing international security.
- The organization identifies technology and competition in 21st-century big technologies as the primary battleground against China.
- MI6's comprehension of the Chinese intelligence threat remains an evolving capability rather than a settled understanding.
- Public debate is expected to eventually address data access issues regarding ride-sharing, dating, genetic, and biometric data more directly.
- It is predicted that allowing foreign access to key data streams will gradually erode national sovereignty over time.
- China is actively seeking global data streams to enhance the development of future artificial intelligence systems.