"The Chinese fundamentally seek to replace the United States as leading power in the world," Collins said on Friday. "What they are waging against us is fundamentally a Cold War."
Collins explained that by Cold War he means China using all avenues of power, including illicit ones, to undermine the standing of the United States as its main rival.
However, Collins pointed out that China does not want to pursue a kinetic war with the United States.
The CIA official said China is rising and pursues the current a policy "under this leadership, under this communist party," referring to the country's President Xi Jinping.
Collins emphasized that the Chinese government under Xi’s leadership has been increasing its ambitions around the world to compete with the United States and undermine Washington’s influence in other countries.
Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose tariffs on all imports from China following several rounds of tariffs on various goods.
