Dutch military intelligence assesses China offensive cyber capabilities now match the United States

The Netherlands Defence Intelligence and Security Service in its annual report published April 22 assessed that China now probably stands on an equal footing with the United States in offensive cyber capabilities, a stronger characterization than the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which acknowledged formidable Chinese capabilities without declaring parity. The MIVD attributed the improvement to the PLA 2024 cyber restructuring that dissolved the Strategic Support Force and created a standalone Cyberspace Force, enabling Chinese hackers to better integrate offensive cyber with military operations and continuously adapt tooling to emerging opportunities. The agency tracked a Chinese cyberespionage campaign identified as Salt Typhoon and RedMike that gained access to routers at smaller Dutch hosting and internet service providers in 2025, while also reporting Chinese intelligence actively targeting Dutch researchers, businesses, and universities seeking semiconductor, quantum computing, and aerospace technology. The MIVD assessed that detection, response, and mitigation are often inadequate against the Chinese cyber threat, estimating that only a limited proportion of Chinese cyber operations against Dutch interests are detected and subsequently mitigated.