When CIA director Gina Haspel announced last month that the agency was giving new emphasis to “nation-state rivals,” she cited one example: China.
When President Trump told the United Nations hat one nation-state was seeking to interfere in the 2018 elections, he cited China (although he provided no evidence to support the claim.)
Now Reuters reports the Five Eyes network is focusing on China.
The Five Eyes is the name of one of the world’s most powerful intelligence surveillance networks: the signals intelligence collection agencies of the English-speaking countries, namely the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
[IntelDesk: “What is ‘The Five Eyes”?]
Are these agencies bending to Trump’s agenda? It would be surprising if they weren’t. If the president doesn’t listen to these agencies, they have no influence power. So they have incentive to tell him what he wants to hear.
This doesn’t mean NSA, the U.S. member of the Five Eyes, is backing off its finding that Russia has interfered in U.S. elections. It may mean that they are looking for intelligence that will be well-received in the White House.
Some of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the enhanced cooperation amounted to an informal expansion of the Five Eyes group on the specific issue of foreign interference.
This fits with Trump’s intelligence agenda and his political agenda. He emphasizes China as a rising threat to the United States because that de-emphasizes Russia as a threat.
Source: Exclusive: Five Eyes intelligence alliance builds coalition to counter China | Reuters
