From TheSkimm: America’s top US intel official has issued a warning: China is our No. 1 threat.
Give me the briefing. In an unusual move, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe outlined Beijing’s threat to America in an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal. Ratcliffe sees more intel than anyone else in the US gov. He lives it and breathes it – prioritizing and filing threats in what can only be imagined to be countless colored folders and tabs. And he usually shares this type of info with the president. But now, he’s publicly saying China is the greatest threat to freedom and democracy since World War II.
How? A few ways. One is what Ratcliffe calls the “rob, replicate, and replace” approach. Think: Beijing steals American companies’ intel property, copies the tech, and replaces the US firms in the global market. In one case, the theft cost a US wind turbine company over $550 million and 700 jobs. And there are many, many more. But it’s not just companies and major institutions that are being targeted. It’s members of Congress too. And while Russia’s done some interference of its own, Ratcliffe says China’s is “six times” what the Kremlin’s doing. It’s an issue that NATO’s been advised to devote more time to. Read HERE.