Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Els Van Hoof hacked by the Chinese

An FBI report shows that Els Van Hoof, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was hacked by the Chinese in 2021. This would mean that they have been able to track the whereabouts of her laptop since 2021.

As early as 2021, there were suspicions that ‘something’ had happened on the laptop of Els Van Hoof (CD&V). But what exactly and who was behind it was not at all clear. After an inspection by State Security, this remained without consequences. Until now, three years later, a report from the FBI has surfaced in the United States showing that it was Chinese spies and that they entered her laptop via an email.

The report became public through a lawsuit against seven Chinese. They are accused of espionage against Americans. But also against members of Ipac, an international association of parliamentarians who work on human rights in China — and therefore a thorn in the side of the Chinese regime. Van Hoof is chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of that association, as is its vice-chairman Samuel Cogolati (Ecolo). Both opened the hackers’ email in question in 2021.

Intimidation

It is not clear what exactly the impact of the cyber attack is. According to the FBI report, the Chinese were certainly able to obtain the IP addresses of the laptops. This would mean that they have been able to track the whereabouts of Van Hoof’s laptop and the other victims since 2021.

Van Hoof reacts shocked to the news. “The very fact that the Chinese regime can locate me is very threatening,” she says. According to her, this hacking fits into a whole series of threats that she has been sensing from the regime for several years. “For example, the Chinese ambassador has intimidated me several times. But I don’t want to give in and continue to say my opinion about Taiwan, for example (which is seen by China as a renegade province, ed.) or the situation of the Uighurs.”

Van Hoof advocates the establishment of a security agency in the House. This could, in collaboration with State Security, provide security briefings to parliamentarians and permanently update them on digital security.