ByREUTERS

AUGUST 5, 2026 13:42

Updated: AUGUST 5, 2026 14:57

US FBI Director Kash Patel reports forging fresh law enforcement ties with China and Russia, longtime American competitors, over the past year to secure partners against cross-border offenses such as fentanyl trafficking, digital fraud, and child sexual exploitation.

The ties include staff exchanges in which Chinese law enforcement personnel have come to the United States and FBI agents have gone to China to collaborate on investigations and exchange intelligence. In addition, FBI and Chinese teams have conducted joint operations and detentions under this framework.

Patel came back from a journey to Beijing in late July, and a comparable visit to Russia is tentatively set for October, per FBI sources.

In exclusive talks with Reuters, Patel outlined the FBI efforts with what he termed non-traditional partners as targeted and confined to particular transnational offenses including worldwide child pornography rings and cyber fraud hubs that target Americans.

The arrangements, called working groups inside the agency, mark a significant shift from prior practice and have sparked worries among counterintelligence experts over the dangers of sharing sensitive domestic security data with authoritarian governments seeking to weaken the United States economically and militarily worldwide.

In May, the FBI, China's Ministry of Public Security, and Dubai police teamed up in Operation Sand Dollar, a large-scale action against a cyber fraud hub in Dubai that resulted in 300 arrests, 300 million dollars recovered, and thousands of exploited workers liberated, the FBI stated. In one instance, a suspect inside China charged with serious violent offenses was returned to the United States, according to Chinese state outlets.

Patel asserts risks of US work with Russia and China can be controlled

US authorities have long depicted Russia and China as sources of crime rather than potential allies against it, let alone origins of espionage directed at American interests globally.

Patel, named by US President Donald Trump, stated such risks can be handled.

They represent fresh and evolving connections, and we remain highly aware of their opposing stance on numerous issues, Patel said. They will not cease, but if we can achieve gains for America, then engagement is essential.

The present link started with Trump's trip to China in May 2025 and was followed by two visits by Patel to China. Patel noted the cooperation has grown across four working groups: cyber fraud, violent crimes against children, counternarcotics, and a fugitive task force.

As part of the partnership, Patel has hosted officials from China's Ministry of Public Security at several FBI sites in the United States to exchange intelligence and investigative details.

Every month they send their operational MPS officers here, and the next month we travel there, Patel said. They communicate with us daily, something that has not occurred previously.

Regarding joint law enforcement actions, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said dialogue and negotiation remain the proper path ahead and military options provide no answer.

Patel explained information exchanges stay narrow in focus and limited to the four categories of transnational crime where intelligence sharing is mutual. Patel added these new FBI partners would not supplant longstanding US allies such as the Five Eyes intelligence group with Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.

Five Eyes will always stand as our key intelligence bond, Patel said. No one seeks to supplant that. Unlike military and traditional intelligence bodies, we hold a distinct area to advance this shift through law enforcement, which serves an apolitical purpose.

Patel engages China on law enforcement ties

During his Asia trip last month, Patel conferred with Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Vice Minister Xu Datong to strengthen what Chinese state media called practical cooperation on various criminal matters.

The collaboration between US law enforcement and major global rivals marks a notable departure from earlier approaches and mirrors Trump's direct style of diplomacy with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

China and Russia are our adversaries, full stop, said Jeff Crocker, a former FBI supervisory agent who retired in 2024. They actively seek to damage our nation physically, economically, and militarily.

Crocker highlighted substantial dangers in granting Chinese officials entry to the American intelligence community, diplomatic staff, and US government sites and contractors. Chinese and Russian agents would treat any access to US facilities as a chance to penetrate them, Crocker said.

So this offers excellent cover for them, Crocker said.

Patel noted counterintelligence steps and safeguards are applied for any foreign visitor to FBI sites. Three former FBI staff told Reuters this typically includes electronic and physical monitoring, especially for individuals from nations viewed as the most serious US adversaries.

We know precisely who arrives here, and we review them, Patel said.

The Kremlin and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond promptly to comment requests.

Patel said months of private law enforcement work with Russia have targeted violent criminal networks.

This process takes time, Patel said. We have pursued it for 15 months.

FBI collaborates with China on fentanyl production

An internal memo reviewed by Reuters credited the FBI cooperation with China's Ministry of Public Security for multiple actions against Chinese pharmaceutical firms this year.

The memo indicated this produced nine arrests, the closure of two chemical production sites and three linked websites, and the seizure of fentanyl precursor chemicals likely otherwise headed for the United States. The memo did not detail the locations of these arrests and seizures.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said fentanyl overdoses have dropped sharply in the United States since the winter of 2022, likely owing to cooperation with China and other elements such as the broad availability of the life-saving drug Naloxone.

It could be that those already vulnerable had already passed away, Felbab-Brown said.

I believe the cooperation proves useful, merits encouragement, and contributed to some degree, Felbab-Brown said, referring to the drop in US overdoses. But the exact extent remains difficult to determine, and numerous complexities exist.

Chinese law enforcement joined the FBI field office in Omaha, Nebraska, to dismantle a multinational child sexual abuse materials network in June, an effort that included 16 arrests, according to the FBI memo.

The growing cooperation follows years of deep mistrust between the United States, which has accused China of overlooking its output of precursor chemicals needed for fentanyl, and Chinese authorities, who halted cooperation amid political disputes such as former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 visit to Taiwan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a measured view of Chinese cooperation. During a visit to the Philippines last month, Rubio described cooperation with China on fentanyl precursors as a work in progress.

I think we have advanced on that front, but not fully where we need to be, Rubio told reporters.

Patel said the approach used with China and Russia could extend to other non-traditional intelligence-sharing partnerships shaped for each nation.

The fact that we succeeded with China, Patel said, when everyone said do not do it and you cannot do it, demonstrates what we can achieve with nearly anyone.