New Delhi: Gone are the times when 'Five Eyes' was spoken of in hushed whispers. In a possible sign of the times to come where the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance may be increasingly called upon to take definitive stands on global strategy and policy and especially against China, the countries forming the world’s oldest intelligence sharing spy network came out with a joint statement on Wednesday (November 18) slamming China on its Hong Kong policy.
The joint statement said: “We, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State, reiterate our serious concern regarding China’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong.”
Set up in 1941, ‘Five Eyes’ is an exclusive, very comprehensive and secretive club of spy rings of five governments—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and US—that collaborate to intercept information within other countries to be used for diplomatic, security, military and economic benefits and gains.
Till the late 90s, not much was known about the spy alliance. The role of ‘Five Eyes’ was further enhanced and expanded during the global ‘War on Terror’ following the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
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Wednesday’s statement added: “Following the imposition of the National Security Law and postponement of September’s Legislative Council elections, this decision further undermines Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms… We urge the Chinese central authorities to re-consider their actions against Hong Kong’s elected legislature and immediately reinstate the Legislative Council members.”
The joint statement castigating China underlines the spying allies out-stepping their traditional ‘cloak and dagger’ work and stepping into the realm of strategy and policy.
This is the second time after October 11 that such a joint statement is being issued.
On October 11, the ‘Five Eyes’ issued a joint statement asking giant technology companies to provide solutions so that end-to-end encrypted communications including WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Facebook Messenger etc can be accessed.
Significantly, India and Japan were also signatories to the October 11 statement.
Interestingly, there is abundant speculation that the ‘Five Eyes’ network may be expanded to include India and Japan.
The developments set in motion the direction that President-elect Joe Biden may possibly follow when he assumes office in January.
