WASHINGTON (US) – US National Intelligence director John Ratcliffe said on Thursday that China is the biggest threat to democracy and freedom since Word War Two, adding that it was bent on global domination.
“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the US and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically,” he said in an opinion article on the Wall Street Journal’s website.
A former Republican congressman, Ratcliffe was appointed by Trump to the top spy post in spring. He said China posed “the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War Two.”
He said resources within the $85 billion annual federal budget meant for intelligence have been shifted to increase the focus on China.
He said Chinese economic espionage was threefold: “Rob, Replicate and Replace.”
Ratcliffe said the Chinese strategy was to rob American companies’ intellectual property, copy it and then supplant US firms in the global market place.
The Chinese embassy dismissed his comments as “fact-distorting” and hypocritical, adding that they showed “the entrenched Cold-War mindset and ideological prejudices of some people on the US side”.
The government in Beijing has frequently urged US leaders to scale down their rhetoric on China.
His article is the latest onslaught of the Trump administration against China. It is seeking to cement Trump’s tough approach against Beijing in the wake of his Nov. 3 defeat in the election.
Trump’s tackling of China has taken the ties between both nations to its lowest level in decades.
Ratcliffe also referred to reports gathered by intelligence agencies which said Chinese representatives sought to interfere in US domestic politics.
He also accused China of stealing US defence technology to expedite President Xi Jinping’s aggressive military modernisation plans.
“The election is over. Now let’s all be honest about China,” he said.
