Senior CIA Official: China Threatens US Interests ‘Far More Significantly By Any Extreme’ Than The Russians
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A senior CIA official warned of the dangers of China’s rise Friday, stressing that Beijing is determined to see China replace the U.S. as the world superpower.
Arguing that China is fundamentally waging a “cold war” against the U.S., Deputy Assistant Director for the CIA’s East Asia Mission Center Michael Collins indirectly described China as a “country that exploits all avenues of power — licit and illicit, public and private, economic and military — to undermine the standing of [its] rival relative to [its] own standing without resorting to conflict.”
“At the end of the day, they want every country around the world, when it’s deciding its interests on policy issues, to first and foremost side with China and not the United States, because the Chinese are increasingly defining a conflict with the United States and what we stand behind as a systems conflict,” he argued at the Aspen Security Forum.
Emphasizing that China represents the greatest challenge to American interests, he stressed that Chinese ambitions set “up a competition with us and what we stand behind far more significantly by any extreme than what the Russians could put forward.”
His statements echo those of FBI Director Christopher Wray, who spoke at the Aspen Security Forum a few days earlier.
While he acknowledged the seriousness of the threat from Russia, which he called “the most aggressive actor” in its efforts to influence “public opinion, our politicians, our business community,” Wray said that China is “the most significant threat we face as a country.” (RELATED: FBI Director: Chinese Espionage ‘Most Significant’ Spy Threat Facing US)
China is “trying to position itself as the sole dominant superpower. They’re trying to replace the United States in that role,” he explained, “I think China from a counterintelligence perspective represents in many ways represents the broadest, most challenging, most significant threat we face as a country.”
Through China’s Belt and Road initiative, Made in China 2025 plan, militarization of the South China Sea, aggressive trade practices, and extensive espionage operations, among others, Beijing appears to be advancing its interests at the expense of others, the U.S. in particular, to achieve dominance in its sphere of influence and beyond.
Before leaving his position as head of what is now U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to become the ambassador to South Korea, Adm. Harry Harris warned that China, not Russia or any other country, stands as the greatest long-term threat to American interests.
“North Korea remains our most imminent threat and a nuclear-capable North Korea with missiles that can reach the United States is unacceptable,” he said in late May. “China remains our biggest long-term challenge. Without focused involvement and engagement by the United States and our allies and partners China will realize its dream of hegemony in Asia.”
The Chinese foreign ministry responded by accusing the U.S. of being “obsessed with hegemony.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sounded the alarms last year, when he was still serving as the head of the CIA, about the threat posed by Beijing.
“I think China has the capacity to present the greatest rivalry to America of any of those over the medium and long term,” he said, “If you look at them, they are probably trying either to steal our stuff, or make sure they can defeat it.” (RELATED: CIA Director Identifies China As Greatest Long-Term Security Threat)
He added that in many cases, it’s both.
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Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world.”
Somebody didn't listen.
Sounds like China can expect a call from trumps 2020 re-election campaign in the near future.
Russia and China are different threats for different reasons.
When the Soviet Union fell, Russia was led to believe that we would not take advantage of a Russian withdrawal from Eastern Europe by expanding NATO beyond a reunified Germany. However, we have expanded NATO to the Russian border. This creates security for the former Soviet states against Russia but it creates friction between Russia and NATO (and us). Russia is never going to sit by passively and be hemmed in by NATO so it actively undermines any country in the region who shifts westward. Putin is clearly upgrading and positioning his forces with the obvious intent of striking whenever an opportunity presents itself. But avoiding being strangled by a NATO noose is a far cry from regaining the superpower status of the former Soviet Union.
China, on the other hand, will become a superpower and the rise of one superpower is almost always at the expense of another. The power on the rise and the one on decline will necessarily see the other as a threat. We should protect our interests but recognize that China will do the same. I think Trump is right to try and draw a line somewhere because China will do as much to us as they can get away with (just like every other rising superpower has done).
China does not have to try to destroy the US militarily, they can slowly do it economically quite easily, which they have been doing for many, many years and no one has given it much thought, not even our government.
China has invested in some of the larger companies and corporations here in the US, as well as US banks and large, lucrative property ownership, many of our major industries and more ways. China has become as well developed in some areas as the US, if not more so. And they are growing stronger every day.
So anyone who cuts them short are being very foolish.
In fact we have often stupidly let greed by our guide, rather than National Security when trading with China.
Indeed. Greed has allowed our US businesses and corporations to see China as a great, harmless partner. And while they shake our hand with one hand, they are stabbing us in the back with the other. While Ivanka Trump has become a poster child for buying most of her brand items from China, even as her Father promotes his empty rhetoric "America First", she is merely one among many thousands, if not millions.
If this is a copy and paste response you should give credit to the original author HA.
It seems that the comment is advocating that Japan, South Korea and Australia secure nuclear weapons. It that what your advocating or the author of the article is advocating HA?
Great, now what about the second part of my comment. Are you advocating that those countries acquire nuclear weapons. If yes, why would you want them to have nukes?
You know HA, that is one bizarre answer. It sounds like you're saying that you want those countries to have nukes and on the other hand we would be a back up for them???? That makes no sense at all.
In fact the first part of the comment that China isn't going to invade anyone with nuclear defense capabilities...China has no need or want to invade any of those countries, makes little to no sense.
So your advocating that Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have nukes...I've not heard of China threatening Australia, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan with attack. Now if you want to start a war, supply Taiwan with nukes. To be blunt HA, China will never allow that, period. There is no way that is going to happen.
Why in the world would China strike any of those countries with a nuclear strike...That is really bizarre.
Are you aware of trade that these countries have with China. So Korea and Japan have numerous factories in China. There are free trade agreements between Australia and China. The trade between those countries is massive. Why in the world would China want to attack them with nukes?
Just a added bit of information HA...The trade between China and Taiwan in 2017 was $182 billion.
Ivanka Trump's products are not the only ones sold in America/Canada. Let me tell you a little story. When I decided to come to China to teach English 12 years ago, I had to use up a $100 credit card bonus in the Toronto Holt Renfrew Store (Holt Renfrew was the Canadian equivalent of Neiman Marcus, very expensive products, in fact they honour each other's credit cards.) Almost anything I wanted was too expensive, but I looked at the labels, and guess where most of the expensive products were from - you guessed it - China. I ended up buying a leather belt, and even then had to pay a little extra. Then, when I was in another less expensive department store I bought a key fob that was perfect for a traveller - it had a folded-in small knife and on the other side a folded in combined bottle cap opener and screwdriver, a compass, and a tiny pushbutton light. I don't have to tell you where that was made. The point of my story is that a lot more products and parts for products from China than most people know about have been used and sold in North America and for a long time.
Absolutely right, Kavika. China is not exactly a desert wilderness, it is already incredibly developed with huge skyscraper cities, well-developed infrastructure including many super-fast trains, etc - China is not going to chance declaring war on anyone, but will be one hell of a tough country to invade. As well, if the US tried to arm Taiwan with nuclear missiles, the Cuba missile crisis would be like a toy soldier game compared to what China would do.
This is what you said HA, I see no reference to waiving the nuclear proliferation treaty. This is what you said regarding nukes and those 4 countries.
If in any way the US was responsible or encouraged Taiwan to acquire nuclear weapons the Chinese would react immediately and in a very aggressive way.
Taiwan has always been and always will be part of China. Any interference as far as supporting Taiwan acquiring nukes would, IMO, be considered a act of war by the Chinese.
Think of the Cuban missile crisis. You would see the same thing in Taiwan. We would not stand for Russia having nukes on Cuba, why do you think that the Chinese would tolerate nukes on what they consider part of China...
Trump’s abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership handed the Indo-Pacific to China. His election was celebrated in Beijing because this was arguably the stupidest and most destructive of his idiocies. TPP required minimum wages which would help to make American goods more competitive, it required members to honor American Intellectual Property which is one of our greatest products, it would have removed 18,000 tariffs, it would’ve opened up huge food importing markets like Japan & Vietnam to our farmers and ranchers, and most importantly, it would have bound these countries to the US rather than China.
We will never recover from this. China’s economy is already larger than ours and Trump’s abandonment of TPP as a ‘very bad deal’, as if he could tell you anything at all about TPP, will aid in that rise. Trump is reconsidering TPP, too late, others have and are making these deals.
While Trump is pushing a reclusive America First policy, China’s Belt & Road Initiative is building major infrastructure projects in 60 countries. Four years of moronic foreign policy are likely irreversible.