Designs on TaiwanĬhina has long refused to rule out seizing control of Taiwan by force if necessary, but some senior U.S. 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 announcing the move. In 2021, the CIA announced a new center focused on gathering intelligence about China. intelligence leaders have vowed to treat China as their top priority. The first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S., Yanjun Xu, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of economic espionage against GE Aviation and other aviation companies. officials say they have exposed and disrupted Chinese attempts at spying inside the U.S. as the world’s dominant power and to replace the U.S.-led order with one reflective of China’s values and interests.” In examining his speeches and directives, intelligence analysts have long assessed that Xi sought to displace the U.S. “China is not an intelligence black box,” one former national security official said. Some former intelligence officials and regional experts are more optimistic about America’s ability to read China, as they say Xi and other senior communist officials often state publicly the goals and objectives of the regime. had a window into Xi’s thinking and decision-making, Burns said that was “always the hardest question for any intelligence service” in an authoritarian system “where power is consolidated so much in the hands of one man.”īurns added that “it’s something we work very hard at, and try to provide the president with the best insights that we can.” 'Not a black box' Nonetheless, Secret Service lapses are always high-profile, given the seniority of the officials they protect.When contacted by NBC News, the CIA referred to recent comments by William Burns, the agency’s director. Asked in an interview last month with CBS News if the U.S. The Post said there was no evidence the intruder at Sullivan’s house intended to do him harm. The 49-year-old man was reported to have a history of mental illness. In Fairfax, Virginia, earlier this week, a man carrying a metal baseball bat attacked staff and damaged property at the district office of Gerry Connolly, a Democratic member of Congress. The intruder attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. Last October, a man entered the San Francisco home of Nancy Pelosi, the former US House speaker, who is guarded by US Capitol police. So that’s why Jake Sullivan has 24/7 protection, and we would hope as Americans protecting him would be a little tighter than somebody being able to get into his home in the middle of the night.”Īttacks on US politicians and public officials are a matter of increasing concern. “An Iranian military official has been charged with paying someone to try to kill on US soil. National security advisers received increased protection after the discovery in 2021 of an alleged Iranian plot to kill John Bolton, the third such adviser to Donald Trump.Ĭarol Leonnig, a Post reporter and the author of a recent book about the Secret Service, told MSNBC the Bolton plot was “a reason sources reached out to us”. “Modifications to the protective posture have also been made to ensure additional security layers are in place as we conduct this comprehensive review.” Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable.

But agents stationed outside the house were unaware that an intruder had gotten inside … until the man had already left and Sullivan came outside to alert the agents.”Ī Secret Service spokesperson said: “While the protectee was unharmed, we are taking this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred. The Post said: “Sullivan has a round-the-clock Secret Service detail. Jake Sullivan confronted the man and told him to leave, the Washington Post first reported, of an incident that happened at about 3am one night in late April.

Surveillance by secret agents