Netherlands sees spy threat from China, Russia

The Dutch intelligence service AIVD highlighted yesterday the threat to Dutch interests of espionage activities by Russia and China, as it presented its latest annual report.
"In the past few years a number of countries has undertaken espionage activities and I'll specifically mention China and Russia," AIVD chief Gerard Bouman told a press conference.
Bouman said his service had "persuaded a number of intelligence officers of different countries to leave the Netherlands" in 2007.
In its report for 2007, the AIVD warns that there was a "concrete threats to vital Dutch information and computer technology networks that were masterminded from China".
Bouman would not elaborate on which networks were targetted and why.
Russia is trying "secretly gather information about the energy sector", the AIVD added, with a rise in Russian intelligence gathering efforts being seen in the Netherlands last year.
The report echoed an earlier assessment by the Dutch anti-terror agency NCTb that the level of threat of a terrorist attack remains substantial.
Bouman said an increase in the threat level, announced in early March, was not only due to concrete threats, but also to the perception of the service that a terrorist attack was more likely.
"I believe the Netherlands are still safe," Bouman said, adding that in the opinon of AIVD, there was no concrete threat from local radical Islamist groups in the Netherlands in 2007.