China's espionage, intellectual property theft 'greatest threat' to US: FBI

China is targeting its nationals living abroad, coercing their return, and it is working to compromise US coronavirus research, says FBI chief.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray has said that acts of espionage and theft by China's government pose the "greatest long-term threat" to the future of the US.

Speaking to the Hudson Institute in Washington, Wray described a multi-pronged disruption campaign. the BBC reported on Wednesday.

He said China had begun targeting Chinese nationals living abroad, coercing their return, and was working to compromise US coronavirus research.

"The stakes could not be higher," Wray said, adding: "China is engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the world's only superpower by any means necessary," he added.

In a nearly hour-long speech on Tuesday,