U.S. intelligence officials have identified China as the greatest national security threat to the United States. During an annual hearing on the top threats to the nation, the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, stated that China represents the most serious and consequential intelligence rival to the U.S. The hearing comes after tensions between the U.S. and China have risen, with both countries accusing each other of various misdeeds, including espionage and violating each other's airspace.
Lawmakers questioned Haines and other top intelligence officials about China's "love affair" with Russia, its economic and military espionage, its control over global supply chains, and its lack of transparency over the origins of COVID-19. During the hearing, it was evident that China’s love affair with Russia and its intelligence-specific ambitions and capabilities make it the U.S.’s most serious and consequential intelligence rival.
The officials also discussed the shift in national-security priorities as the U.S. moves away from two decades of focusing on Islamic terrorism and wars in the Middle East to an increasingly complex web of technological and cyber threats, along with homegrown extremism. There were concerns about TikTok, the Chinese-owned social video app used by over 100 million people in the U.S., which lawmakers believe could be used as an influence tool to shape public opinion if China invades Taiwan.
While Russia is engaged in a grinding attritional war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin lacks the manpower or resources to turn the tide of the war in Russia's favor. U.S. intelligence officials predict that Moscow does not want a direct military conflict with U.S. or NATO forces but warn that there is still a "significant" risk of escalation.
Finally, the officials identified racially and ethnically motivated extremists, including white supremacists and neo-Nazis, as the most lethal threat to Americans. While this was not a new assessment, some lawmakers questioned the assessment, asking if it was more significant than ISIS or Al Qaeda. However, the intelligence officials stood by their assessment, stating that those actors seek to sow social divisions, support fascist-style governments, and attack government institutions, making them the most lethal threat to U.S. persons and interests.
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