# China Warns US to Stop All Spying After CIA Deputy Director Declares Chinese Firms Legitimate Intelligence Targets
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Publisher: IC Brief · published 2026-09-13 · read 2026-09-13

Original: https://icbrief.org/s/105d2c1f/

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## Who is named (5)

- [Michael Ellis](https://truthscore.com/entity/848ccc87)
- [Counter‑Espionage Law Revised](https://truthscore.com/entity/afda3b24)
- [Beijing](https://truthscore.com/entity/cdf2ba11)
- [Ministry of Commerce](https://truthscore.com/entity/e554ad9a)
- [United States](https://truthscore.com/entity/f6d3f5b6)

## What it added

- [China's Ministry of Commerce demanded the United States immediately cease all espionage activities against China, including against Chinese enterprises, and…](https://truthscore.com/claim/d58d7bc9)
  > China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday demanded the US "immediately cease all espionage activities against China," including against Chinese enterprises, and warned it possesses "the firm will and ample means" to punish such acts under laws including the Counter-Espionage LawRevised and broadened in 2023 to cover commercial data and business activities
- [Michael Ellis is a lawyer and former Trump White House official rather than a career intelligence officer.](https://truthscore.com/claim/27d6eae9)
  > Ellis is a lawyer and former Trump White House official rather than a career intelligence officer
- [Michael Ellis's unusually public declaration that Chinese companies are "legitimate targets" represents a deliberate policy signal, not an inadvertent…](https://truthscore.com/claim/d05cd9ad)
  > His unusually public declaration that Chinese companies are 'legitimate targets' represents a deliberate policy signal, not an inadvertent disclosure
- [The Ministry of Commerce called the United States claims "gangster logic of hegemony".](https://truthscore.com/claim/0fddacc1)
  > The ministry called the US claims "gangster logic of hegemony," according to SCMP's rendering
- [The exchange precedes a planned Xi visit to the United States in coming weeks.](https://truthscore.com/claim/667a343c)
  > The exchange precedes a planned Xi visit to the US in coming weeks
- [Beijing's Counter‑Espionage Law invocation converts Michael Ellis's remarks into an explicit legal warning rather than an operational pivot.](https://truthscore.com/claim/614aa448)
  > Beijing's Counter-Espionage Law invocation converts Ellis's remarks into an explicit legal warning rather than an operational pivot
- [China is very unlikely to impose a concrete countermeasure, such as a sanction, asset freeze, or exit ban, against a named United States individual or entity…](https://truthscore.com/claim/a322a6ba)
  > China very unlikely will impose a concrete countermeasure, such as a sanction, asset freeze, or exit ban, against a named US individual or entity before Xi's planned US visit concludes
- [The statement marks a shift from silence to named rebuttal, but may function primarily as domestic‑facing, pre‑summit positioning.](https://truthscore.com/claim/26f87360)
  > The statement marks a shift from silence to named rebuttal, but may function primarily as domestic-facing, pre-summit positioning
- [United States agencies can hold current travel‑security guidance and personnel‑exposure posture unchanged through the visit.](https://truthscore.com/claim/15efe329)
  > US agencies can hold current travel-security guidance and personnel-exposure posture unchanged through the visit
- [The Counter‑Espionage Law gives authorities sweeping power to investigate and detain individuals or entities deemed to be conducting espionage.](https://truthscore.com/claim/3729577e)
  > this Chinese law gives authorities sweeping power to investigate and detain individuals or entities deemed to be conducting espionage

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