Former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) William Evanina called China “an existential threat” at a hearing Thursday of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence: “It’s the most complex, pernicious, aggressive, strategic threat our nation has ever faced.”
Evanina pointed to intellectual property theft, high-tech espionage, and efforts to co-opt the U.S. government by electing CCP officials—something he called “elite capture”—as some of the biggest threats from the Asian superpower.
“The Communist Party of China strategically conducts malign influence campaigns at the state and local level with precision,” he said. “This effort must be exposed and mitigated.”…