Taipei/London : United States officials were alarmed in 2023 when they discovered that Chinese state-controlled hackers had infiltrated critical US infrastructure with malicious code that could wreck power grids, communications systems and water supplies. The threat was serious enough that then-CIA director William Burns made a secret trip to Beijing to confront his Chinese counterpart.

He warned China’s minister of state security that there would be “serious consequences” for Beijing if it unleashed the malware. The tone of the meeting, details of which have not been previously reported, was professional and it appeared the message was delivered.

But since that meeting, which was described by two former US officials, China’s intrusions have only escalated. (The former officials spoke o

See Full Page