It doesn’t really matter who prevails in the 2020 presidential race when you are the Communist Chinese government. The United States is still the target. The fact of the matter is this. Targeting a Biden administration will be much easier for the ChiComs than it was targeting the Trump administration.
In a recent speech to the Aspen Institute, National Counterintelligence & Security Center Director William Evanina said China has launched an influence campaign “on steroids” targeting Biden and a potential Biden administration.
“[W]e’ve seen an uptick, which was planned and we predicted, that China would now revector their influence campaigns to the new administration. And when I say that, you know that malign foreign influence, that diplomatic influence-plus or on steroids, we’re starting to see that now play across the country to not only the folks that are in the new administration, but those who are around those folks in the new administration. So, that’s one area we’re going to be very keen on making sure the new administration understands that influence, what it looks like, what it tastes like, what it feels like when you see it,” Evanina said.
This past August, Evanina released a monograph highlighting the three most potent threats to the 2020 General Election. That list included China. Evanina made is clear that, according to US intelligence, China did not want President Trump to win re-election and was prepared to execute measures to make their preferred outcome a reality.
“We assess that China prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win re-election,” Evanina said. “China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests and deflect and counter criticism of China.”
.@NCSCgov Director William Evanina at 2020 #AspenCyber Summit: We predicted that China would revector its influence campaigns to the new administration. We're seeing that play out across the US, for not just direct members of the administration but also the people around them. pic.twitter.com/D1PelBvEo7
— Aspen Cybersecurity (@AspenCyber) December 2, 2020
Evanina indicated that even though the Communist Chinese government would continue to evaluate the consequences of aggressive action, its public face has exampled its dismay over several Trump administration actions.
The evidence of China’s dedication to the targeting of Biden and his team is disquieting given the fact China is widely considered to be the greatest threat to the US by military and intelligence officials.
It is also of concern because Biden continuously refused to call China an opponent or a threat while on the campaign trail.