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DNI Ratcliffe labels China ‘greatest threat’ to freedom since World War II

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President Donald Trump‘s head of national intelligence stated that China is the “greatest threat” to freedom since World War II in an op-ed published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

In the piece titled “China Is National Security Threat No. 1,” Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe writes that combatting China’s growing global influence will be the most important fight over the next few decades, stating that resisting “Beijing’s attempt to reshape and dominate the world is the challenge of our generation”.

Ratcliffe was appointed to his position back in the spring by Trump after five years of serving as a Republican congressman from Texas.

“As Director of National Intelligence, I am entrusted with access to more intelligence than any member of the U.S. government other than the president. I oversee the intelligence agencies, and my office produces the President’s Daily Brief detailing the threats facing the country,” Ratcliffe writes in his opening paragraph.

RELATED: DNI Ratcliffe: China interfering in our upcoming election

“If I could communicate one thing to the American people from this unique vantage point,” the top intel chief added, “it is that the People’s Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II.”

“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically,” he continues.

Furthermore, Ratcliffe goes on to say that China is seeking to spy on the United States and companies to further its own economy as part of an attempt to “rob, replicate and replace” U.S. businesses. Additionally, he says that China’s authoritarian government robs U.S. companies of their intellectual property, copies the technology, and then replaces U.S. entities in the international marketplace.

Ratcliffe made some other statements and claims about the Chinese government in the rest of the opinion piece, to summarize.

At one point, he accused Beijing of stealing U.S. defense technology to “fuel” President Xi Jinping’s aggressive plan to make the People’s Liberation Army “the world’s foremost military power.”

Ratcliffe, citing U.S. intelligence, also said that China has conducted human testing on members of its military “in hope of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities,” but he did not expand upon this charge further.

Ratcliffe’s opinion piece is the latest of public statements from members of the Trump administration criticizing China in a variety of subject areas before President-elect Joe Biden becomes president in January, perhaps in order to solidify President Trump’s still-forming legacy as a president who stood up to China. In his Journal piece, Ratcliffe did not mention Biden, it should be noted.

During the presidential transition, experts have been predicting for the most part that Biden isn’t going to perform a complete 180-degree policy reversal from Trump when it comes to China, with many stating that the president-elect doesn’t appear too eager to pull back current U.S. sanctions, perhaps as a bargaining chip in dealing with China.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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Electric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant

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With a little help from their Democrat friends, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party just announced the opening of its second plant in the United States.

Fox News reports Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cheered the project.

The announcement comes amid growing opposition to the company’s plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.

In order to make the expansion happen, lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party-tied electric vehicle company funneled cash to Democrats. “Individuals at a law firm registered as foreign agents to lobby on behalf of Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company developing a controversial project in Michigan, and wired campaign contributions to several top Democrats” reports Fox News.

“According to state and federal filings, Monique Field-Foster, an attorney at the Lansing office of the Warner Norcross + Judd law firm who is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Gotion, donated to the campaigns of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s sister Liz Gereghty and Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Elissa Slotkin” the Fox News report continued.

“In partnership with the business community and the General Assembly, two years ago we set out to make Illinois a destination for electric vehicle and clean energy companies from across the globe,” Pritzker said in a statement.

“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”

Pritzker delivered remarks late last week thanking Gotion for choosing Illinois to call “home” in a ceremony with leaders from Gotion High-Tech, including Li Zhen, the company’s chairman and president, who said he expected the factory to open in less than 12 months.

“All that we see here [in Illinois] are of enormous value to us: an enabling business environment, a supportive state government for the new energy industry and their highly efficient work, as well as the prospects of the State of Illinois in the coming years,” the Gotion president added. “We believe that Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”

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