China remains the greatest threat to US power, a top American intelligence official told a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“The People’s Republic of China, which is increasingly challenging the United States economically, technologically, politically and militarily around the world, remains our unparalleled priority,” Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, stated, as she presented the US Intelligence Community's threat assessment report.
Screenshot of Twitter post by Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
© Photo : Twitter
Released on March 8 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Annual Threat Assessment report claimed that Beijing was acting on the belief that it could achieve its goals of "dominating" its region and expanding its global reach “only at the expense of US power and influence.”
The report said that as Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping embarks upon a third term, the party will seek “to press Taiwan on unification, undercut US influence, drive wedges between Washington and its partners and foster some norms that favor its authoritarian system.”
Haines also weighed in on the alleged espionage challenge posed by China, underscoring that due to the country's ambitions and abilities, it was America's "most serious and consequential intelligence rival.” This particular aspect of US-China tensions comes amid ramped-up spy hysteria regarding Beijing, with US politicians targeting everything from Huawei and TikTok, to off-course weather balloons, and even cranes as "national security threats."
On the military side, the ODNI report stated that, “Beijing is increasingly combining growing military power with its economic, technological, and diplomatic influence,” ostensibly, to “pursue global influence.” It was also estimated that China intended to expand its nuclear arsenal, and was allegedly building hundreds of new silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Regarding China-Russia ties, the Annual Threat Assessment report claimed that Beijing would persist in seeing Moscow as an important strategic power. This comes as Washington has been claiming that amid Moscow's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, China has mulled the possibility of providing "lethal" military assistance to Russia, including either weapons or ammunition. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said it was the United States who was funneling weapons to Ukraine and urged Washington to "stop shifting responsibility and spreading false information."
In response to the ODNI report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that accusations by US intelligence that China intends to maintain ties with Russia in order to continue attempts to challenge the United States have been repeatedly denied by Beijing.
"This has been repeatedly denied by Beijing, so again, such accusations are more of a cliche," Peskov told reporters.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has slammed Western countries led by the United States for having "implemented all-around containment, encirclement and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our country’s development.”
Newly appointed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned in a media briefing on March 7 that the US and China were headed towards conflict if the United States does not “hit the brake” in its stance on Beijing.
Qin said that the balloon incident was proof the US sees China as its main adversary, and that the United States acts “with the presumption of guilt” towards China.