US intelligence chief says China is spying on cold war scale

China and Russia are spying on the US on a scale not seen since the end of the cold war, the head of US national intelligence, Mike McConnell, said yesterday.

Giving evidence to a Congressional committee, Vice Admiral McConnell said that US facilities, intelligence services and development projects were all being targeted.

He was speaking weeks after the Pentagon had claimed it had come under attack from Chinese computer hackers. The Foreign Office is among British government departments that appear also to have been targeted.

Adm McConnell cited China and Russia in written testimony to coincide with oral evidence to the House judiciary committee. It is part of a White House campaign to persuade Congress not to reverse parts of the Protect America Act which gives the federal government extensive powers to intercept foreign calls and emails.

He said the efforts of China and Russia were approaching cold war levels. "Foreign intelligence information concerning the plans, activities and intentions of foreign powers and their agents is critical to protect the nation and preserve our security," he said.

Some Democrats are uneasy about the act, which was hastily passed last month as Congress rushed to go on holiday. It allows eavesdropping on foreign communications without obtaining court orders, including Americans if they are thought to be a party to any communication.

Adm McConnell, grilled by Congressmen yesterday, justified unrestricted surveillance by saying that it could take 200 hours to obtain a court order.

He claimed that eavesdropping by federal agencies was necessary to identify "sleeper cells" who might be contacted by foreign terrorists. He argued not only for the provisions of the act to remain in place but for Congress to agree to even more eavesdropping powers for federal agencies.

In a separate development, the US defence department is urging Congress to increase the $25m given annually to elite military formations such as the Green Berets and US Navy Seals to pay locals for information or to help with fighting. Until three years ago, the CIA had exclusive control over the financing of such operations.

Admiral Eric Olson, the top officer at US special operations command, told the Senate armed services committee in June that the authority is an "absolutely essential tool in the war on terrorism".

The money has been effective against the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines, Adm Olson said, and against "potential terrorist targets" in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the Horn of Africa.