President Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s spy chief said “the greatest threat actor” facing the United States is China and argued during a Senate confirmation hearing on Monday that the intelligence community needs to do more to combat the growing challenge.
Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas, who would take over for acting Director of National Intelligence and Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell if confirmed, repeatedly stressed the dangers posed by the Chinese Communist Party, pointing out deceptions surrounding the coronavirus outbreak and China’s broader efforts to replace the U.S. as a global leader.
“I believe the immediate focus of the IC must be directed to the geopolitical and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its origins. The American people deserve answers, and, if confirmed, I pledge that the IC will remain laser-focused on providing them,” Ratcliffe said, adding, “I’ve had that conversation with a lot of people about what I view as the greatest threat and the greatest threat actor — and I view China as the greatest threat actor right now.”
If he is approved by the Senate, Ratcliffe, renominated by Trump after dropping from consideration last year, would oversee the nation’s 17 spy agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and the National Security Agency. In a near-empty and socially distanced Senate room, the congressman made clear that China was on his mind for a number of reasons, not least of which is the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan.
“I mean, look at where we are with respect to COVID-19 and the role that China plays. The race to 5G. Cybersecurity issues. All roads lead to China there,” Ratcliffe said. “And so one of the highest priorities I will have if confirmed as DNI is to make sure … as we look at the national intelligence framework and whether we’re committing enough resources to the rising power that is China.”
The U.S. intelligence community reportedly believes the Chinese Communist Party has been consistently misleading about the coronavirus. A senior intelligence official told the Washington Examiner that a majority of the intelligence community’s 17 spy agencies believe COVID-19 originated through an accidental escape from the lab.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s China Initiative aims to combat both Chinese malign influence (ranging from cyberespionage to technology theft) and its Thousand Talents Program, which is aimed at stealing research. The DOJ and Education Department are investigating Chinese funding of U.S. universities and scrutinizing Confucius Institutes on campuses.
Ratcliffe told Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri that the Chinese Communist Party’s goal was “to supplant us as the world’s superpower and to be able to set standards around the world.”
The congressman discussed the growing importance of fifth-generation wireless networks, telling Republican Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina that “it ties into what you said, the issue of 5G and where that race stands right now, where rising powers like China with regard to the development of 5G global networks.” He said that “our ability to ensure that interconnected global networks are safe will demand … that we work harder to work with the private sector and take advantage of the technology expertise there to make sure that we’re first there in all of these places.”
Ratcliffe also talked about policy challenges, saying, “China is the rising threat, and we need to look at the national intelligence policy framework and our budgeting and our resource allocation to make sure that we’re dedicating toward all of these different initiatives where an authoritarian regime wants to set the marketplace rules.”
The congressman pointed to the Chinese government’s Made In China 2025 initiative “where they want Chinese companies dominating industry against 10 different sectors.” He discussed the “military-civil fusion” in China and referenced China’s National Security Law, which he said stemmed from the Chinese government’s desire to force Chinese companies into “gathering and collecting intelligence and sharing it with the Chinese Communist Party.” He additionally touched on China’s global Belt and Road effort, where “they want to dominate all of the hubs for trade routes and telecommunication.”
“All of these things are China trying to essentially supplement free marketplace standards and values like liberty and free speech and all of the things we have with authoritarian values that are reflected in some of the things that are happening in this COVID-19 pandemic,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe highlighted some of the technological fields where he feared the U.S. might fall behind China.
“I’ll start with 5G because 5G leads to AI, and AI leads to quantum. … And to your point about where the Chinese Communist Party stops and starts — it’s hard to tell with a company like Huawei,” Ratcliffe said. “And if Huawei has an obligation to share information under law with the Chinese Communist Party, and they are creating global networks, and our information is going over those lines, and our allies that we are sharing information with, it’s jeopardizing our information, it’s jeopardizing our troops, all of these things are basically put at risk.”
The Justice Department charged Chinese telecom giant Huawei in a global racketeering scheme this year, and the U.S. has urged its Five Eyes partners not to use Huawei in their communications systems.
Ratcliffe argued that “one of the things I’m most concerned about is investment toward quantum computing.” This emerging field could increase data analysis speeds by orders of magnitude. He praised the NSA as having “the best code markers and breakers in the world” and called NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone a “national treasure” while warning that “if China gets to quantum first, we’re in trouble.”
“And so that, for me, when we look at investments and looking forward and the challenges that we face and the fact that China is investing more in those technologies than the United States presently, we need to rebalance,” Ratcliffe testified.
