In testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence March 8, on the “Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Committee,” Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines warned in the public part of her statement that the Threat Assessment describes the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) as a threat of “unparalleled priority for the intelligence community.” This is because it is “coming ever closer to being a “peer competitor in areas of relevance to national security, is pushing to revise global norms and institutions to its advantage"—breaking the rules?—"and is challenging the United States in multiple arenas, but particularly economically, militarily and technologically.”
Haines insists that President Xi Jinping and other leaders are determined to “force unification with Taiwan on Beijing’s terms,” and are currently engaged in all manner of actions to accomplish this through coercion, but she warns that if Beijing concludes that it has to achieve this through military force, it will. Also alarming, Haines said, is that the P.R.C. is also engaged in the “largest ever nuclear force expansion and arsenal diversification in its history,” trying to match or exceed U.S. capabilities in space and has also developed a threatening cyber-espionage capability.
Haines also pointed to Russia as a “critical priority,” especially given its current invasion of Ukraine, “which has produced a shock to the geopolitical order with implications for the future that we are only beginning to understand.” She argues that Putin has badly miscalculated, however, because the Ukrainian resistance is far greater than anticipated, he is facing big internal military challenges, and has been denied a quick military victory. But despite the West’s excellent military response, its provision of lethal aid and other assistance to Ukraine, DNI Haines reports that the Intelligence Community nonetheless estimates that Putin will be “undeterred” by setbacks and may escalate to achieve Ukrainian disarmament and neutrality to prevent it from further integrating with the U.S. and NATO. She points to Putin’s “saber rattling” with his nuclear alert, but vows that the U.S. will “remain vigilant in monitoring every aspect of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.”
https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2022-03-08-ATA-Opening-Statement-As-Delivered.pdf
