Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
October 02, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2023
Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two

World+Biz

Reuters
04 December, 2020, 11:10 am
Last modified: 04 December, 2020, 11:31 am

Related News

  • The US needs India to buffer China, and Modi knows it
  • Chinese firm to build solar power plant in Bangladesh
  • US accuses China of global media manipulation
  • China launches first cross-sea bullet train line near Taiwan Strait
  • US soldier Travis King in US custody after expulsion from North Korea to China

Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two

He said he had shifted resources within the $85 billion annual federal budget allocated to intelligence to increase the focus on China

Reuters
04 December, 2020, 11:10 am
Last modified: 04 December, 2020, 11:31 am
File Photo: Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-TX, testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, May 5, 2020. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
File Photo: Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-TX, testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, May 5, 2020. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

The top US intelligence official stepped up the Trump administration's harsh attacks on Beijing on Thursday, labeling China the biggest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War Two and saying 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," Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in an opinion article on the Wall Street Journal website.

Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman appointed by Trump to the top US spy job last spring, 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 he had shifted resources within the $85 billion annual federal budget allocated to intelligence to increase the focus on China.

Ratcliffe said China's economic espionage approach was threefold: "Rob, Replicate and Replace."

He said the strategy was for Chinese entities to steal American companies' intellectual property, copy it and then supplant US companies in the global market place.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy rejected Ratcliffe's comments as "fact-distorting" and hypocritical and said they showed "the entrenched Cold-War mindset and ideological prejudices of some people on the US side".

Beijing has frequently called on US leaders to dial back their rhetoric on China, which it blames on fear of China's growing role in the world.

Ratcliffe's essay was the latest broadside against China from President Donald Trump's administration as it seeks to cement the outgoing president's tough-on-China legacy following his November 3 election defeat.

Trump's approach has taken relations between the world's two largest economies to their lowest point in decades and analysts say it could limit the incoming Biden administration's room for maneuver in dealing with Beijing.

Ratcliffe alluded to reports collected by US intelligence agencies that Chinese representatives have sought to interfere in US domestic politics.

He also charged that China had stolen US defense technology to fuel President Xi Jinping's aggressive military modernization plans.

"The election is over. Now let's all be honest about China," Ratcliffe told Reuters after the article was published.

Among other issues, Washington and Beijing have clashed over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, its tightening grip on Hong Kong, its disputed claims in the South China Sea, trade and accusations of human rights crimes in Xinjiang.

Ratcliffe, who served only briefly on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee before Trump appointed him to his role, has been accused by Democrats and current and former intelligence officials of politicizing intelligence.

In his essay, Ratcliffe said Chinese authorities had "conducted human testing" on members of the Chinese army "in hopes of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities." He did not elaborate.

US-based think tanks have reported that China is giving increasing importance to biotechnology in its military strategy but they have not released detailed reports about the kind of testing alleged by Ratcliffe.

On Thursday, the Trump administration restricted travel to the United States by members of China's ruling Communist Party and their families.

On Wednesday, it banned cotton imports from a quasi-military organization in Xinjiang it says uses forced labor of detained Muslims, while the House passed a law to kick Chinese firms off US stock exchanges if they do not comply with auditing rules.

China accused US politicians of fabricating news of detained Muslims being forced into labor in Xinjiang.

In an emailed statement, the embassy spokesperson said "no one deserves the title of Empire of Hacking and Spying better than the US" and charged that both the US government and US firms had long carried out "large-scale, organized and indiscriminate cyber theft, surveillance and attack."

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said Ratcliffe's comments appeared aimed at locking in a tough approach before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.

"It does appear to part of a broader effort to tie Biden's hands and limit his room to maneuver on China policy," she said.

"In prior administrations, the norm has been to avoid taking such actions during a presidential transition, but the Trump administration has long set a pattern of bucking the norm."

Top News

John Ratcliffe / US intelligence / China

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Big drops in remittance, exports make reserves struggle harsher
    Big drops in remittance, exports make reserves struggle harsher
  • Shahjahan Bhuiyan’s parents and two out of his three siblings passed away when he was behind bars. He missed all the funerals.  
Photo: Nayem Ali
    Hangman Shahjahan Bhuiyan: Life after 60 executions and 44 years in prison
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Why Bangladesh’s reserves tumble, Sri Lanka’s improve

MOST VIEWED

  • Paperfly aborts flight
    Paperfly aborts flight
  • Photo: TBS
    Habibur Rahman takes charge as 36th DMP commissioner
  • Some banks get more remittance. Is it for extra efforts, or higher dollar rates?
    Some banks get more remittance. Is it for extra efforts, or higher dollar rates?
  • How China's Belt and Road changing Bangladesh's  infrastructures
    How China's Belt and Road changing Bangladesh's infrastructures
  • Photo: TBS
    Dhaka traffic slowest in world: Study
  • US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken on 10 March 2023. Photo: Reuters
    Remittance earnings in September lowest in 41 months

Related News

  • The US needs India to buffer China, and Modi knows it
  • Chinese firm to build solar power plant in Bangladesh
  • US accuses China of global media manipulation
  • China launches first cross-sea bullet train line near Taiwan Strait
  • US soldier Travis King in US custody after expulsion from North Korea to China

Features

Shahjahan Bhuiyan’s parents and two out of his three siblings passed away when he was behind bars. He missed all the funerals.  
Photo: Nayem Ali

Hangman Shahjahan Bhuiyan: Life after 60 executions and 44 years in prison

38m | Panorama
Illustration: Collected

Apology to a life forgotten to live

14h | Features
Photo: Kazi Ashraf Uddin

Coffee: More than a beverage, something of a beloved

17h | Features
The price back to the normal range is possible if the corporations who control the feed market reduce the feed and chick prices. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Will eggs ever return to their 'normal' price?

20h | Features

More Videos from TBS

Everything about the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 stadiums: Part 1

Everything about the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 stadiums: Part 1

12h | TBS SPORTS
Apple is bringing new software updates to prevent overheating

Apple is bringing new software updates to prevent overheating

14h | Tech Talk
A unique study cafe in the city

A unique study cafe in the city

13h | TBS Stories
Reserves are falling even as the dollar's share of global payments rises

Reserves are falling even as the dollar's share of global payments rises

16h | TBS Economy
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]