The Central Intelligence Agency is weighing proposals to create an independent “Mission Center for China” in an escalation of its intelligence warfare effort against China, Bloomberg News reported Aug. 12. “The proposal, a part of a broader review of the agency’s China capabilities by CIA Director William Burns, would elevate the focus on China within the agency,” Bloomberg reports, citing “people familiar with the deliberations.” Up to this time, China had been only a part of a broader “Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific.”
At his CIA confirmation hearings in February, Burns appears to have laid groundwork for the proposal. He called China’s “adversarial, predatory leadership,” the biggest threat to the U.S., saying Beijing’s goal is to “replace the United States as the world’s most powerful and influential.” That would require shifting more of the Agency’s focus and financing to its China focus. “For CIA, that will mean intensified focus and urgency, continually strengthening its already impressive cadre of China specialists, expanding its language skills, aligning personnel and resource allocation for the long haul,” Burns said.
Intelligence community assets in the Congress may be on the same policy line. Bloomberg reports that “A House Intelligence report released in September 2020 concluded that U.S. spy agencies were failing to meet the multifaceted challenges posed by China and were overly focused on traditional targets such as terrorism or conventional military threats.”
U.S. “freedom of navigation” excursions in the South China Sea, and other activities, may set the context for such a mission.
