As competition between the United States and China intensifies, more Americans now say the Asian country is more powerful economically, a reversal from two years ago when a plurality said the United States had an economic advantage, according to a survey released Thursday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The nationwide survey also found that protecting U.S. jobs ranks ahead of other American foreign policy priorities such as fighting global pandemics, combating international terrorism and limiting climate change. But a majority do not see current policies as benefiting working-class or middle-class Americans. Instead, large majorities said that U.S. foreign policies help large companies, wealthy Americans, the government and the military.
Concerns about China’s economic prowess and the perceived priorities of U.S. foreign policy represent challenges for President Biden and his senior advisers, who have said they will orient their international policies with an eye to aiding working families. One part of this involves confronting China for alleged trade abuses, currency practices and other matters.
CIA Director William Burns announced a series of organizational changes intended to hone the agency’s focus on key national security challenges, including the launch of two new mission centers, one focused on China and another dedicated to transnational and technological threats.
The China Mission Center “will further strengthen our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government,” Burns said in a statement on Thursday.
The Transnational and Technology Mission Center will focus on foreign technological development alongside issues like climate change and global health, the CIA said in a press release detailing the changes.
www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-creates-new-mission-centers-china-and-technology/