MP Els Van Hoof hacked by Chinese spies: “Ambassador has intimidated me several times” | Domestic
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updateThe chairwoman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs committee was hacked by Chinese spies in 2021. The intrusion into the laptop of Els Van Hoof (CD&V) is not the first intimidation attempt by China. “This has been going on since I became committee chairman and goes through various practices,” says the politician.
LOOK. Els Van Hoof: “This is additional pressure from China”
The Chinese were able to gain access to Van Hoof’s laptop in an apparently innocent way. “The email appeared to come from an international news agency. It was about Trump and human rights,” she says in ‘De Ochtend’ on VRT Radio 1. “But that one email was a way to get into my system. I didn’t notice it at all.”
It was only after an investigation by State Security that Van Hoof exchanged her laptop and smartphone for another copy. The intelligence service found nothing in 2021. The seriousness of the hack has become clear through a report from the FBI, which was reported by the French-language magazine ‘Le Vif’ on Monday evening. “I have been followed in all my doings digitally,” she now testifies.
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
Els Van Hoof, CD&V MP and chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Silencing through various means
The hack is part of an arsenal of intimidation attempts. “It’s like they’re breaking into your house,” says Van Hoof. “I now have the feeling that I work with my windows and doors open. That way I can’t do my job in a serious way.”
This also happens to other parliamentarians in Europe, such as Ecolo MP Samuel Cogolati. “The intention is of course to intimidate you and silence you,” says the chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
At Radio 1 she also lists other methods. For example, there was the 2021 cyber attack on our government institutions. According to ‘Humo’ and ‘Apache’, this came about because of a hearing about the fate of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority in China. The communist government orders them to go to ‘re-education camps’ and be used as forced laborers. Several women have also testified about rape and torture.
Van Hoof also talks about letters from the Chinese embassy and Belgian industry. These will be sent to her and the chairmen of Groen, she says. “I am warned that I am playing with fire. I’ve wondered ‘Is this all worth it?’ But that is precisely the intention.”
Establish security bureau for parliament
Van Hoof is now calling for the establishment of a security agency in Parliament. This could, in collaboration with State Security, provide security briefings to parliamentarians and permanently update them on digital security. “I raised the problem with the clerk and the speaker of parliament at the time, but no action was taken.”
Such offices already exist in other European parliaments. “When I travel, such as recently to Kiev, I see that my European colleagues have separate mobile phones and laptops,” she says on the radio. “While we are outlaws and go anywhere without any protection.”
According to Van Hoof, such support is crucial. “My family knows that I am working on this and they also encourage me to continue,” she says. “It is a very uncomfortable feeling and eventually you become paranoid. You would stop working for less and that is not the intention. We must defend our democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
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