U.S. Spy Chiefs Warn of Threats From China to Climate Change
Tony Capaccio, Chris Strohm and Peter Martin
2021년 4월 14일
The U.S. and its allies will face “a diverse array of threats” in the coming year, with aggression by Russia, China and Iran set against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic that has caused global disruption, according to the annual threat assessment by American intelligence agencies.
Additionally, ecological degradation and climate change “will continue to fuel disease outbreaks, threaten food and water security, and exacerbate political instability and humanitarian crises,” according to the unclassified assessment prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for congressional hearings this week.
The 27-page declassified version of the assessment was released Tuesday in advance of Senate and House hearings on Wednesday and Thursday that will revive a tradition of annual public presentations by the nation’s spy chiefs. That practice lapsed last year after then-President Donald Trump dismissed his own intelligence team as “extremely passive and naive” for findings in 2019 that didn’t fit his views on Iran and North Korea.
“The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to strain governments and societies, fueling humanitarian and economic crises, political unrest, and geopolitical competition as countries, such as China and Russia, seek advantage through such avenues as ‘vaccine diplomacy,’” according to the new report.