WASHINGTON: China remains the United States’ top military and cyber threat, according to a report by US intelligence agencies published on Tuesday that said Beijing was making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan.

China has the ability to hit the United States with conventional weapons, compromise US infrastructure through cyber-attacks, and target its assets in space, as well as seeking to displace the US as the top AI power by 2030, the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community said.

Russia, along with Iran, North Korea and China, seeks to challenge the US through deliberate campaigns to gain an advantage, with Moscow’s war in Ukraine having afforded it a “wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war,” the report said.

Released ahead of testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee by President Donald Trump’s intelligence chiefs, the report said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) likely planned to use large language models to create fake news, imitate personas, and enable attack networks.

Report says Beijing has a multifaceted strategy designed to displace the United States

“China’s military is fielding advanced capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, stealth aircraft, advanced submarines, stronger space and cyber warfare assets and a larger arsenal of nuclear weapons,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the committee, labelling Beijing as Washington’s “most capable strategic competitor.”

“China almost certainly has a multifaceted, national-level strategy designed to displace the United States as the world’s most influential AI power by 2030,” the report said.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the committee that China had made only “intermittent” efforts to curtail the flow of precursor chemicals fuelling the US fentanyl crisis due to its reluctance to crack down on lucrative Chinese businesses.

Trump has increased tariffs on all Chinese imports by 20 per cent to punish Beijing for what he says is its failure to halt shipments of fentanyl chemicals. China denies it plays a role in the crisis, which is the leading cause of US drug overdose deaths, but the issue has become a major point of friction between the Trump administration and Chinese officials. “There is nothing to prevent China ... from cracking down on fentanyl precursors,” Ratcliffe said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025