Five Eyes: The intelligence alliance looking to contain China

Forged in the midst of World War II and shrouded in secrecy for decades, the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance has been one of the world's most successful networks, which encompasses the Anglosphere countries of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

United by their close ethnic, cultural, political, strategic, and material bonds, the Five Eyes turned 75 this year. While trust amongst spies is a rare commodity, this alliance has stood the test of time.

It was only during the 1990s that the existence of the spying alliance was acknowledged, and even then, politicians have been wary of speaking about the alliance in part because few, if any, are briefed on it.

Yet, for an organisation that eschewed the spotlight, it has in recent years opted for a more public profile in part positioning itself as an opponent of China.

Most recently, the Five Eyes issued a rare statement condemning China over the elections held in Hong Kong.

The statement was branded as "malicious" by the Chinese state-aligned outlet The Global Times and pointedly accused the spying network of seeking to foment instability in China.

Before that, the Five Eyes have moved in concert to ban Huawei's 5G network from being installed in their respective countries, with Canada the only holdout expected to follow suit shortly.

The Five Eyes have also thrown their weight behind a statement on China's treatment of its Uighur population in Xinjiang province.

Taken together, these actions are increasingly shaping the trajectory of the alliance as it seeks to ensure the predominance of the Anglo system.

So what are the Five Eyes?

The origins of the agreement traces back to Bletchley Park, an English country house that became the principal center of Allied attempts to engage in code-breaking during the World War II.

British and American collaboration there set the stage for further collaboration as the spectre of the Soviet Union weighed heavily in the imaginations of the two countries.

In 1956, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia were invited to join the alliance.

At its core, the Five Eyes exists to collect and disseminate intelligence with the proviso that the countries don't spy on each other and that there is a degree of coordination amongst their foreign policies.

Out of the shadows?

When Edward Snowden, a former intelligence officer working for the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US, revealed a treasure trove of damaging information on the alliance, the Five Eyes were also spying on Western leaders like former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The revelations caused a massive scandal at the time and underlined what some believed  - that the Five Eyes don't just monitor adversaries but also those that it considers allies. But the revelations also changed how the Five Eyes operated.

In a bid to shape the narrative, the Five Eyes now reports its annual meetings and posts joint communiques.

Who covers what?

Each member is in charge of a geographic region which it monitors, although there are significant overlaps.

Britain monitors Europe, Western Russia, Middle East, and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the United States also oversees the Middle East plus China, Russia, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Australia is responsible for South and East Asia and New Zealand for the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Canada monitors the interior of Russia and China, and parts of Latin America.

Can other countries join?

Since 2018 the US has started to share some intelligence with what it calls "like-minded partners" to build an alliance against China, including Germany and Japan.

Every-few years the idea of bringing more countries into the exclusive intelligence sharing club has been floated. Japan, Germany, and even France have been floated, however, given the cultural, ethnic, and political underpinnings of the Five Eyes, that chemistry is more likely to be diluted rather than strengthened.