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Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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Henderson and others have tried to demonstrate that what is true in the realm of human
intelligence-gathering is reflected in Chinese information operations. That is, rather than
assign a targeted goal for collection, the intelligence apparatus tends to rely on sheer
weight of information to develop a global perspective. Experts have hypothesized that this
is exactly the informal association the government and the Red Hacker Alliance share.
The Chinese government appreciates the value of the Chinese computer underground and
has made tentative contacts with them. From the government’s perspective, the hackers
make excellent candidates for mounting information operations against overseas targets.
They have demonstrated that they are creative, highly patriotic. They have the ability to
launch sophisticated attacks, and are motivated to do so.
That is not to suggest that every member of the Red Hacker Alliance has informal
connections with the intelligence bureaucracy. Rather, there are probably very few
members who have any dealings with the government. But this relationship is not
straightforward or simple. At times, it must be uneasy and require a delicate balance of
constraints and freedoms.
A more detailed understanding of how the parties interact, especially where mutual
interests converge, will enable us to uncover the complex cost-benefit analysis that the
government must calculate when it allows the Red Hacker Alliance to operate within its
borders. From the government’s perspective, the Chinese computer underground must
bring benefits that outweigh their liabilities. Otherwise, the Red Hacker Alliance’s activities
would be halted.
There are very few indications that the government is now making any efforts to shut
down the Red Hacker Alliance, surely a telling sign that the cost-benefit analysis is in the
underground’s favor. So, if this is not a state-sponsored organization, what are the factors
that make it worth the government’s while to allow the alliance to operate?
The most obvious reason for the government’s tolerance of the Red Hacker Alliance is that
it is likely that it receives valuable information. Thousands of attacks per day could surely
fill in some of the gray areas of a composite intelligence picture. Furthermore, as a nonstate
actor, the Red Hacker Alliance provides Beijing with plausible deniability. Even if
freelance hackers could be positively identified, their actions are easily disavowed as those
actions of patriotic youth, and certainly not of the government.
In addition to intelligence collection, and the distinct possibility that the government and
the alliance have financial ties, nationalist politics also bind the computer underground and
the government together.
The political sphere can be divided into two distinct categories, domestic and international.
Domestic political hacking targets dissidents and separatist social movements found inside
China - and extends to overseas supporters. The targets of these attacks are groups that
are perceived to challenge the “unity of the motherland,” or question the legitimacy of the
Communist Party, such as Falun Gong, the Tibet movement, and democracy activists and
dissident networks such as Human Rights in China. Since at least 2002, dissident groups