CIA accuses China of using all resources to replace the US

Beijing does not want to go to war, but the government under President Xi Jinping is quietly working on multiple fronts to undermine the United States in ways that differ from Russia’s more publicized activities, Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA’s East Asia Center, said on July 20.

"I would argue that what they are waging against us is essentially a cold war,"SCMPquoted him as saying at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. According to Mr. Collins, it is not equivalent to the decades-long confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, but "by definition" it is a cold war. He said that China is using all its resources to replace the United States and become the world's leading superpower.

Tensions between the US and China are rising, going beyond the trade dispute surrounding tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries. There are concerns about China trying to steal business secrets and details of technological research being done in the US. China’s military is also expanding and modernizing. The US and many other countries are protesting China’s construction of military outposts in the South China Sea.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said on July 18 that China is the biggest, most significant threat the United States faces in terms of counterintelligence. He said economic espionage investigations in all 50 US states show China's involvement.