China poses the greatest threat to the United States, Joe Biden's candidate for CIA director William Burns said Wednesday, who has vowed to keep the US intelligence agency independent from politics.
Read also: William Burns, a diplomat at the head of the CIA
On an "
increasingly complicated and competitive
"
international scene
, the "
predatory
"
attitude
of the Chinese government represents "
our greatest geopolitical challenge
," assured the former career diplomat during his hearing before the Intelligence Committee of the Senate, which must approve his appointment.
It must then be invested during a vote in plenary session in the Senate.
“
As President Biden has pointed out, getting ahead of China will be essential for our national security in the coming decades,
” he said.
"
This will require a long-term, clear and two-party supported strategy, underpinned by domestic reform and reliable intelligence
."
If it is in the interests of Washington and Beijing to work together on climate change or nuclear non-proliferation, the former number two in American diplomacy warned against the Chinese regime which "
methodically reinforces its capacities to steal intellectual property, suppress its people, harass its neighbors, extend its power in the world and build its influence within American society
”.
The CIA has been targeted in recent years by Chinese intelligence services, which have recruited several agents and diplomats.
About ten years ago, Beijing had succeeded in dismantling a network of informants of the American agency in China.
He also stressed that the battle for technological superiority in intelligence, including the use of artificial intelligence, will be a key part of his mission.
Read also: Joe Biden names former diplomat William Burns as head of CIA
Williams Burns, 64, is set to replace Gina Haspel, the first woman to lead the CIA, whose career is marred by her controversial role in torture programs after the 9/11 attacks.
He was chosen to restore the independence of the intelligence agency, which Donald Trump is accused of having wanted to politicize by appointing faithful to its head.
"
Politics must end where intelligence work begins,
" he said, referring to his long career in the Middle East and Russia.
"
I learned that intelligence professionals have to tell politicians what to hear even if it is not what they want to hear
."
A diplomat for 33 years, including as United States Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, William Burns retired in 2014 before chairing the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, a think tank on international relations, including partnership with a Chinese university has been criticized by some elected members of the commission.
