WASHINGTON – The United States (US) faces a bigger threat from China thanit does from Russia, CIA Director Mike Pompeo told the BBC in an interviewlink>.
Pompeo claimed that there was a “much bigger footprint” of China’sintelligence in the efforts to “infiltrate” not only the US but UK andEurope as well.
“Think about the scale of the two economies,” he said. “The Chinese have amuch bigger footprint upon which to execute that mission than the Russiansdo.”
The CIA chief alleged that China had designated its spies everywhereincluding schools, hospitals and the corporate world in order to “workagainst US.
According to Pompeo, China’s methods to extract intelligence and exertinfluence included traditional espionage as well as using economicinfluence over American companies that were trying to enter its market.
This is not the first time the US has accused China and Russia ofinterference in the country. The US intelligence’s investigation intoRussia’s alleged meddling in 2016 US polls is still ongoing.
In December last year, the Trump administration had cited China and Russiaas two of its “main sets of challengers” in its first foreign policylink>, saying that both countries “challengeAmerican power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode Americansecurity and prosperity”.
Both countries had hit back at the US for deploying a “Cold War mentality”link>and termed the government’s approach as”imperialist”.
“We urge the United States to stop intentionally distorting China’sstrategic intentions and to abandon outdated notions such as the Cold Warmentality and zero-sum game, otherwise it will only harm itself or others,”Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
Moscow issued its own denunciation moments later.
“The imperialist character of this [foreign policy] document is obvious, asis the refusal to renounce a unipolar world, an insistent refusal,” Kremlinspokesman Dmitry Peskov had told the media.