America can’t control the global flow of ideas

ONE of the quirks of LinkedIn, a career-oriented networking site with over 562m users, is that strangers wish you a happy birthday even when your mum has forgotten. If this happens to you, don’t respond: it could be a Chinese spy. According to Reuters, American counter-intelligence chiefs think that China is running a “super-aggressive” campaign on LinkedIn to recruit experts in health care, green energy and technology. Other agencies are nervous, too. The FBI complains of an “unparalleled” level of economic espionage. The National Security Agency says America is being “pummelled”.

The spooks’ warnings are part of a wave of anger in the West about ideas leaking across borders. On June 1st the European Union complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that China prevents European firms from getting a fair price for their intellectual property (IP). A 215-page White House report on China’s trading practices published in March was filled with accusations of IP violations, including outright theft and the forced transfer of IP to joint-venture partners in China. On August 1st Congress approved a law that gives the government sweeping powers to police cross-border deals involving “critical technologies”.