China is growing threat but internal issues may undercut its rise, top US intelligence officials say

Name: Chinese military activity around Taiwan ‘potentially destabilising’, White House says
Uploaded: 2021-04-14T17:16:50.000Z
Duration: 51 s
Description: Chinese military activity around Taiwan ‘potentially destabilising’, White House says

China employing ‘comprehensive approach to demonstrate its growing strength and compel regional neighbours to acquiesce’, says national intelligence director

The open testimony follows the annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community, which ranked China as the top threat

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Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, speaks during a Senate intelligence committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: AFP via Bloomberg

Mark Magnier

Published: 1:16am, 15 Apr 2021Updated: 3:28am, 15 Apr 2021

China is a growing competitive threat to the United States on multiple fronts as it moves to reshape global norms, muscle its neighbours and expand cyber capabilities, but its internal problems could undercut the smooth rise it hopes to effect, top US intelligence officials said on Wednesday.

The open testimony on the US’ principal national security threats before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence follows the release a day earlier of the annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community, which ranked China as the nation’s top such risk.

“China is employing a comprehensive approach to demonstrate its growing strength and compel regional neighbours to acquiesce to Beijing’s preferences,” including sovereignty claims over South China Sea and Taiwan, said Avril Haines, director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which produced Tuesday’s report.

But “it is worth noting that its economic, environmental and demographic vulnerabilities all threaten to complicate its ability to manage the transition to the dominant role it aspires in the decades ahead”, she added.

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Chinese military activity around Taiwan ‘potentially destabilising’, White House says

Haines’s comments on the challenges presented by China were echoed by an alphabet soup of US intelligence agencies, including leaders of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

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