‘We Are in a Terrorism Event’: Former Intel Official Urges Real-Time China Threat Sharing With US Companies

The CCP threat requires the same level of urgency and resources as the U.S. counterterrorism efforts in the past two decades. —Former head of U.S. counterintelligence William Evanina

William Evanina, then-nominee to be director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, testifies during a hearing held by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington on May 15, 2018. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party’s economic war with the United States has “manifested itself into a terrorism framework,” former head of U.S. counterintelligence William Evanina said at a congressional hearing on July 26. He recommended a new economic threat intelligence entity that would share “actionable, real-time threat information” with private U.S. companies to mitigate the risks of doing business with China.

“I would offer to this committee that we are in a terrorism event,” he told members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).