U.S. intelligence leaders told lawmakers Wednesday that the Chinese Communist Party remained the “most consequential threat” to U.S. national security, as President Xi Jinping consolidates power and his government takes steps to fuel divides both within the U.S. and between Washington and its allies.
Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of the panel’s annual hearing on worldwide threats, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that Xi had “surrounded himself with like-minded loyalists at the apex of the Party Standing Committee,” and continued to work toward solidifying China’s status as a leading regional power as well as a major global power.
“The [Chinese Communist Party] is increasingly convinced that it can only do so at the expense of U.S. power and influence,” Haines said.
While Xi’s recent public remarks indicated a growing “pessimism” about Beijing’s relationship with Washington, Haines said, he likely still believes China would benefit by “preserving stability in its relationship with the United States,” she said.
How to watch Senate intelligence hearing on worldwide threats
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What: U.S. leaders testify before Senate Intelligence Committee on global security threats
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Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023
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Time: 10 a.m. ET
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Location: U.S. Capitol – Washington, D.C.
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Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
“In brief, the CCP represents both the leading and most consequential threat to U.S. national security and leadership globally, and its intelligence-specific ambitions and capabilities make it for us our most serious and consequential intelligence rival,” Haines testified in prepared opening remarks.
Haines appeared alongside leaders from the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, which were also outlined in a written, unclassified report released Wednesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Officials noted that Beijing had continued to “deepen” its relationship with Moscow while still hesitating to provide Russia with lethal assistance for its invasion of Ukraine.
The annual worldwide threats hearings take place Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee and Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee, and feature testimony from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray, National Security Agency Director Gen. Paul Nakasone and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier.
The hearings offer a rare opportunity for lawmakers and the public to hear directly from intelligence leaders, whose agencies do not offer regular press briefings and whose activities and budgets are partly or mostly classified.
Leaders’ testimony will coincide with the release of a comprehensive yearly intelligence community report that serves as an unclassified scene-setter for national security priorities. Last year’s assessment – which was released before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine – said “competition and potential conflict between nation-states remains a critical national security threat,” citing increasingly belligerent signals from Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang.
Sen. Angus King, independent of Maine who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a briefing for reporters Tuesday that he had read this year’s report and found it “sobering.”
“My recommendation is, don’t read it just before you go to sleep,” King said.
