Intelligence identifies top military threat to US - and it's not Russia
Photo: The CIA has identified the main military threat to the United States (Getty Images)
China remains the primary military and cyber threat to the United States. A report by US intelligence agencies states that China is also making "steady but uneven" progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan, Reuters reports.
In the annual threat assessment conducted by the intelligence community, the report states that China is capable of striking the US with conventional weapons, endangering US infrastructure through cyberattacks, and targeting its assets in space.
In addition, Beijing aims to surpass the US as the leading power in artificial intelligence by 2030.
Russia, along with Iran, North Korea, and China, seeks to challenge the US through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage, while Moscow’s war against Ukraine provides it with a "wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war," the report states.
The report, published ahead of testimony by intelligence leaders from Donald Trump's administration before the Senate Intelligence Committee, also states that the Chinese military has likely planned to use large language models to create fake news, impersonate individuals, and support attack networks.
"China's military is fielding advanced capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, stealth aircraft, advanced submarines, stronger space and cyber warfare assets, and a larger arsenal of nuclear weapons," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the committee.
Gabbard also called Beijing the "most capable strategic competitor" to the US.
"China almost certainly has a multifaceted, national-level strategy designed to displace the United States as the world's most influential AI power by 2030," the report says.
China's challenges
US concerns about China accounted for about one-third of the 33-page report, which states that Beijing intends to increase military and economic pressure on Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China considers its territory.
"The PLA (People's Liberation Army of China - ed.) probably is making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan and deter - and if necessary, defeat - US military intervention," the report states
According to intelligence agencies, China's long-term goal is to expand its access to Greenland’s natural resources and use it as a "key strategic foothold" in the Arctic.
However, the report states that China faces "daunting" internal challenges, including corruption, demographic imbalances, and financial and economic difficulties that could undermine the legitimacy of the ruling Communist Party domestically.
At the same time, the report also emphasizes that China's economic growth is likely to continue slowing due to low consumer and investor confidence, and Chinese authorities appear to be preparing for increased economic frictions with the US.
The committee hearing was accompanied by questioning from Democratic senators of CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Gabbard about how they and other high-ranking officials had discussed highly classified military plans in a Signal messaging app group, which an American journalist had accidentally accessed.
