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Trump intelligence pick to play ‘helpful’ role in agreeing economic strategy with China
🇨🇳 China /Conflict & Security

Trump intelligence pick to play ‘helpful’ role in agreeing economic strategy with China

From South China Morning Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • A nominee for U.S. director of national intelligence stated he could help shape economic strategy with China.
  • The nominee, Jay Clayton, identified terrorism, drug trafficking, and traditional adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran as top threats.
  • A senator questioned Clayton's threat assessment, emphasizing China's geopolitical importance over drug trafficking.

Jay Clayton, the nominee for U.S. director of national intelligence, told lawmakers on Wednesday that he could be "extremely helpful" in shaping economic strategy with China. During his confirmation hearing, Clayton framed Beijing as a primary economic and geopolitical challenge facing the United States.

Appearing before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Clayton was questioned on key intelligence issues. When asked to identify the top three threats to America, he listed terrorism first, followed by drug trafficking, fentanyl, and cartels. He then named "our traditional adversaries," specifically identifying Russia, China, and Iran.

extremely helpful

— Jay ClaytonDescribing his potential role in shaping economic strategy with China.

However, lawmakers pushed back on Clayton's perceived ranking of threats. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, disagreed with prioritizing drug trafficking over the threats posed by China or Russia. Clayton quickly clarified that he had not ranked the threats in a specific order, aiming to address the lawmakers' concerns about the geopolitical significance of China.

One, I strongly disagree with you about the issue of drug trafficking being more important at this point than the threat of China or Russia.

— Mark WarnerQuestioning Clayton's threat assessment during the confirmation hearing.
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Originally published by South China Morning Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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