The head of the U.S. intelligence community warned the growing partnership between the governments of China and Russia is “continuing to deepen” in “every sector” amid “real concern” about Beijing assisting Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines made the comments about the “DragonBear” alliance on Wednesday during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the spy community’s newly released annual worldwide threat assessment.
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) asked Haines about the current analysis on the relationship between China and Russia, questioning whether it was a “temporary marriage of convenience” or a “long-term love affair.”
“It is continuing to deepen,” Haines replied. “So, I think, maybe the latter, although I hesitate to characterize it as a love affair. So, there are some limitations that we would see on where they would go in that partnership. We don’t see them becoming kind of allies the way we are with allies in NATO, but nevertheless, we do see it increasing across every sector.”
The United States has also repeatedly warned China against providing the Russians with lethal weaponry for the invasion of Ukraine. King pressed Haines on Wednesday about whether China was helping Russia in Ukraine, and she said Beijing was indeed doing so.
“We do see them providing assistance to Russia in the context of the conflict, and we see them in a situation in which they have come increasingly uncomfortable about the level of assistance and not looking to do it as publicly as otherwise might occur given the reputational cost associated with it,” Haines testified. “But I think that is a very real concern, and the degree of how close they get and how much assistance they are providing is something we watch very carefully.”
HUNTER BIDEN FIRM WORKED WITH CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY ASSISTING RUSSIA IN UKRAINE
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics in early February 2022 to announce a broad strategic partnership “without limits” amid Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border. The Kremlin invasion happened a few weeks later, and Beijing has gone out of its way to support Putin with rhetoric echoing Russia’s justification for the invasion, with economic and financial support, and with the provision of, at minimum, nonlethal military aid.
An investigation by the Washington Examiner recently found that a Chinese military company that Hunter Biden’s investment firm teamed up with years ago is now assisting the Russian military with its war in Ukraine.
The declassified threat assessment released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday also detailed the China-Russia alliance. The intelligence community noted that while Russia “is challenging the United States and some norms in the international order in its war of territorial aggression” against Ukraine, it is only China that has “the capability to directly attempt to alter the rules-based global order in every realm” and across multiple parts of the world.
“Despite global backlash over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China will maintain its diplomatic, defense, economic, and technology cooperation with Russia to continue trying to challenge the United States, even as it will limit public support,” ODNI predicted. “Efforts by Russia, China, and other countries to promote authoritarianism and spread disinformation is helping fuel a larger competition between democratic and authoritarian forms of government.”
ODNI added, “China and Russia will maintain their strategic ties driven by their shared threat perceptions of the United States, which create potential threats in areas such as security collaboration, specifically arms sales and joint exercises, and diplomacy, where each country has used its veto power on the UN Security Council against U.S. interests.”
The spy community also assessed that Beijing and Moscow “are seeking to ensure strategic stability with the United States through the growth and development of a range of weapons capabilities, including nontraditional weapons intended to defeat or evade U.S. missile defenses.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the newly formed House China select committee, returned from a trip to Taiwan last month after meeting with a host of Taiwanese political leaders, saying Taiwan views Russia’s war in Ukraine as a fate that could await them if they don’t take the proper steps needed to defend their island nation from a potential Chinese invasion.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang defended the DragonBear alliance in the context of Taiwan on Tuesday.
“The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” Qin warned. “Why does the U.S. ask China not to provide weapons to Russia, while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?”
U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan warned earlier this year that China may invade Taiwan as early as 2025. The Chinese government suspended its anti-drug efforts with the United States in August 2022 in retaliation for the decision by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to visit Taiwan over the objections of the Chinese government.
