Chinese spying cases and transnational repression — the systematic effort to target overseas dissidents — are rapidly increasing in the United States, according to a new report by a House subcommittee.

Between January 2021 and this month, federal authorities logged more than 55 cases of China-related espionage in 20 states, the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism, law enforcement and intelligence said in a recent report.

The cases involved the transmission of sensitive military information to Beijing, theft of trade secrets, harassment and repression of Chinese dissidents and obstruction of justice.

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“The government of China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seriously threaten the economic well-being, homeland security and democratic values of the United States,” the report said. “Cases of Chinese espionage throughout the U.S. have expanded rapidly with Chinese nationals and non-Chinese individuals acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China allegedly committing a variety of forms of espionage including but not limited to, government, military, and economic espionage.”

According to subcommittee statistics, between 2000 and 2023, 224 incidents of Chinese spying were detected against the United States. An estimated 80% of economic espionage prosecutions are linked to actions benefiting the Chinese system, and about 60% of all trade secrets theft cases were carried on by Chinese agents.

Billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. intellectual property stolen by China was estimated to have cost each American family about $4,000 to $6,000, the report said.

Regarding transnational repression, China’s government is the largest source of covert and overt attempts to silence dissidents outside China who are critical of the regime.