Exclusive | More Chinese nationals searched at US customs, government data shows
- US border agents carried out 1,147 searches of Chinese nationals’ electronic devices in 2019, a rise of 66 per cent from the previous year, data shows
- The increased searches coincide with the Justice Department’s launch of its ‘China Initiative’ in November 2018 targeting suspected theft of trade secrets
Searches of Chinese citizens’ laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices at the US border increased by two-thirds last year and have remained high in 2020 despite a sharp drop in international travel because of the pandemic, new figures reveal, amid law enforcement crackdown on suspected economic espionage by Beijing.
US border agents carried out 1,147 searches of Chinese nationals’ electronic devices in 2019, a rise of 66 per cent from the previous year, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data that the South China Morning Post obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The total number of searches conducted on people of all nationalities rose 23 per cent over the same period to 40,913 last year, including about 8,000 searches on US citizens.
CBP carried out 553 searches of Chinese nationals’ devices out of a total 19,051 searches in 2016, 709 out of 30,200 total in 2017, and 693 out of 33,296 in 2018.
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The higher rate of increase for Chinese relative to the broader population of travellers crossing the US border coincides with the Justice Department’s launch of its “China Initiative” in November 2018, targeting suspected theft of trade secrets and other proprietary data by individuals acting on behalf of Beijing.