China stepping-up efforts to influence President-elect Biden's administration: US Official

A top US intelligence official has warned against an increase in China's efforts to influence the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden. William Evanina, from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said that China would now redirect its influence campaigns to the new administration, adding the Chinese were also focusing on people close to Biden and those close to officials in his new administration. 

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"We've also seen an uptick, which was planned and we predicted, that China would now re-vector their influence campaigns to the new administration," William said at the 2020 Aspen Cyber Summit on December 2, which he attended virtually. William said that they had already predicted the planned influence campaigns by China, and are working on preparing the new administration on "what it looks like, what it tastes like, what it feels like when you see it". 

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The China influence

This comes following reports of alleged Chinese meddling in the recently-concluded US elections, which saw both candidates shower accusations at each other of being Beijing's stooge. While Trump accused his rival's son Hunter Biden of operating illegitimate businesses in China, Biden called out the president for having a Chinese Bank account. The United States intelligence community had warned prior to the election that China is trying hard to influence the election result. The US has also accused China of trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research by targeting American firms since the beginning of the outbreak. 

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During the Summit, a justice department official said that ever since the United States began investigating Chinese researchers for alleged intellectual property theft, more than 1,000 Chinese nationals suspected of hiding their true identity have left the country. John Demers, chief of the justice department's national security division, said that hundreds of Chinese researchers have been identified by the US investigators for having connections with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and deliberately hiding it from immigration officials.  

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