As former Congressman and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe goes before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week for possible confirmation as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Central Intelligence Agency director, experts say the selection is a signal that the incoming Trump administration will take a far more aggressive approach to countering China’s espionage and cyberwarfare efforts against America.
Ratcliffe, who served as a U.S. congressman representing Texas’s 4th district from 2015 to 2020, served as President Trump’s director of national intelligence from May 2020 until January 2021. According to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday, Ratcliffe “is likely to push for more aggressive spying operations targeting Beijing” if he is confirmed as CIA director. The report went on to say that he “would push for aggressive spy missions against high-level officials in China and for covert operations intended to counter Beijing’s growing influence around the world” as well as “pursue such activity to deter recent Chinese cyberattacks.”
As demonstrated by the recent breaches at the U.S. Treasury Department and the hacking of telecommunication networks by Chinese state-sponsored hackers, the threat is real and growing.
Ratcliffe is expected to continue what he accomplished during Trump’s first term, which included hiring more China analysts and “push[ing] to declassify intelligence that could be used to embarrass Beijing on the world stage,” a former official told the Wall Street Journal. He is also likely to use “offensive cyber weapons” which Trump “removed interagency bureaucratic restraints” for during his first term.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who was nominated by Trump to serve as national security advisor, has promised that the incoming Trump administration will take a much harder line toward Beijing than the outgoing Biden administration’s approach. “We have to stop trying to just play better and better defense,” Waltz stated recently. “We need to start going on offense.”
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis, who serves as Family Research Council’s senior fellow for National Security, concurred.
“[Trump] is transactional, and if he can get what he wants from Xi Jinping, then he’ll move in whatever direction is necessary,” he told The Washington Stand. “Historically, the Chinese have been incredibly aggressive in the cyber realm, and their military is growing at the fastest rate of any military since World War II. They are demonstrating a diplomatic approach that is incredibly tough around the world. They are really redefining themselves as the primary adversary we face in the world. I think that the Trump administration, especially if you get Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio, they are very outspoken with regard to the threat posed by China, and I totally agree with them.”
Maginnis, who authored the recent book “Preparing for World War III,” went on to detail the extent of the threat emanating from Chinese communist regime.
“There is no question when you juxtapose the Chinese military, the Chinese aggressiveness with regard to stealing our intellectual property, their geopolitical activities around the world—they’ve captured most of the African and South American continents,” he explained. “For instance, at the conference that Biden went to weeks ago in Peru, [China] had just finished investing several billion dollars in their ports. Ports are good for aircraft carriers and submarines, not just typical commerce ports. That’s a significant issue. We’re seeing a major footprint in the Arctic, we’re seeing major collaboration with the Russians in Ukraine—there’s not any place in the world that the Chinese aren’t pushing back against the United States.”
Meanwhile, a U.S. naval commander has announced that the U.S. military is expanding “overall force readiness” in order to prepare for a potential war with China in 2027 when experts say Xi Jinping may try to “reunify” Taiwan with the communist regime.
Adm. Sam Paparo, the commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, “stated in a new naval journal article that his forces are rapidly building drone weapons and armed robots for use in both air and sea as part of ‘Project 33.’” The primary focus of the effort will be to deploy large numbers of drones which “can be built quickly, are difficult to detect and counter, and can carry a variety of payloads, both logistical and lethal,” according to Paparo. In addition, the Navy also plans to “cut maintenance backlogs to assist ‘combat surge capability’ in a conflict.”
“Trump will continue that [buildup],” Maginnis told The Washington Stand. “I have no doubt that that’s going on—that’s what I monitor every day at the Pentagon. … Our commanders have come to the conclusion that 2027 is a significant year, because we expect that their armed forces will be ready by then to take Taiwan. The question is whether or not the United States will follow suit and [honor] its past obligations to come to the aid of Taiwan. I don’t know. I know what Biden has said. Trump has been somewhat sanguine on the topic, so we’ll have to wait and see. But there’s no doubt that the pressure is building. The Japanese, the Filipinos, the Koreans, the Australians, most of our allies and partners in the Indo Pacific, including the Indians, are beginning to show every sign that they’re preparing and anticipating that future war.”
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
