Uploaded June 2013 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Could Edward Snowden be a spy for China? The former CIA employee now hiding out in Hong Kong after revealing surveillance activities by the National Security Agency has sent US intelligence officials into a frenzy.
Not only did he reveal extensive phone and Internet monitoring by the NSA, he's also told a Hong Kong newspaper that the US has been hacking China.
Now, top US lawmakers want to find out whether Snowden may have any ties with the Communist regime, or may even have been working for them.
Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who chairs the US House Intelligence Committee said on Thursday that, quote "we're going to make sure that there's a thorough scrub of what his China connections are."
Rogers said the US needs to start looking into Snowden's motives, connections, why he's in Hong Kong and how he is supporting himself while being holed up there.
Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat lawmaker, has also said that it's unusual that Snowden may be seeking for the protection of the Chinese government, and giving press conferences to the Chinese media.
On Wednesday Snowden gave an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, and revealed the US hacking claims. Today the paper published more of what Snowden has revealed about NSA's hacking, including specific IP addresses of computer networks in Hong Kong and the mainland that were targets of cyber attacks.
Information like that is gold to the Chinese regime, who has been accused by the US of sustained cyber attacks on US businesses and government networks.
Today, China's state-run Global Times ran a commentary that urged Chinese leaders to maximize their use of what Snowden may know, saying, "The Chinese government should let him speak out and according to whether the information is public, use it as evidence to negotiate with the United States openly or in private."
Of course, if Snowden works in anyway with the Chinese, he will quickly lose any support he has had from the American public. Even if he did initially expose US government wrongdoing, giving any national intelligence to one of the US's biggest adversaries will not earn him any brownie points. The FBI has already started a criminal investigation into Snowden, and will take "all necessary steps" to prosecute him for exposing top-secret government programs.
So, do you still think Snowden is a hero for exposing the NSA? Or is the story getting much murkier now that he's brought China into the mix?
Leave your comments below, and don't forget to subscribe to the Run List.
Could Edward Snowden be a spy for China? The former CIA employee now hiding out in Hong Kong after revealing surveillance activities by the National Security Agency has sent US intelligence officials into a frenzy.
Not only did he reveal extensive phone and Internet monitoring by the NSA, he's also told a Hong Kong newspaper that the US has been hacking China.
Now, top US lawmakers want to find out whether Snowden may have any ties with the Communist regime, or may even have been working for them.
Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who chairs the US House Intelligence Committee said on Thursday that, quote "we're going to make sure that there's a thorough scrub of what his China connections are."
Rogers said the US needs to start looking into Snowden's motives, connections, why he's in Hong Kong and how he is supporting himself while being holed up there.
Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat lawmaker, has also said that it's unusual that Snowden may be seeking for the protection of the Chinese government, and giving press conferences to the Chinese media.
On Wednesday Snowden gave an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, and revealed the US hacking claims. Today the paper published more of what Snowden has revealed about NSA's hacking, including specific IP addresses of computer networks in Hong Kong and the mainland that were targets of cyber attacks.
Information like that is gold to the Chinese regime, who has been accused by the US of sustained cyber attacks on US businesses and government networks.
Today, China's state-run Global Times ran a commentary that urged Chinese leaders to maximize their use of what Snowden may know, saying, "The Chinese government should let him speak out and according to whether the information is public, use it as evidence to negotiate with the United States openly or in private."
Of course, if Snowden works in anyway with the Chinese, he will quickly lose any support he has had from the American public. Even if he did initially expose US government wrongdoing, giving any national intelligence to one of the US's biggest adversaries will not earn him any brownie points. The FBI has already started a criminal investigation into Snowden, and will take "all necessary steps" to prosecute him for exposing top-secret government programs.
So, do you still think Snowden is a hero for exposing the NSA? Or is the story getting much murkier now that he's brought China into the mix?
Leave your comments below, and don't forget to subscribe to the Run List.
