Tensions between the U.S. and China have been increasing in recent years, with both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden taking action to confront China across multiple fronts, especially on technology and trade issues.
The Trump administration took steps to limit Chinese tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE from doing business in the U.S. due to national security concerns. The former administration also closed the Chinese Consulate in Houston last year following reports of espionage and intellectual property theft.
The Biden administration has called out Beijing for its alleged role in major ransomware attacks targeting U.S. companies. The administration said last month it is confident a cyberattack against Microsoft Exchange’s email service in March was the result of “malicious cyber actors” associated with China’s state security ministry.
April 19, 2021
The intelligence community (IC) last week made a rare foray into public view to explain the top threats facing the United States. In a paper and in testimony before the Senate and House intelligence committees, agency heads described a complex and “cascading” set of national security challenges, with China securing a prominent position among them. A clear subtext to the report and testimony is that the IC’s priorities are shifting perhaps too slowly from a focus on counterterrorism to addressing near-peer competitors. Those competitors have robust intelligence efforts and no compunction about operating aggressively in the gray zone, for example, influencing elections and spreading misinformation. The report and testimony also featured discussions of the pandemic and climate change, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines specifically referred to “broadening our definition of national security,” likely to incorporate issues like these that have nor
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