China engaged in human testing to develop 'super soldiers': US intelligence chief

美國情報總監：中國進行人體試驗欲打造“超級士兵”

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe claims China making efforts to enhance military biologically


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China has conducted biological tests on military personnel in an effort to engineer soldiers capable of enhanced physical feats, according to the top U.S. intelligence official, who outlined his views on the East Asian country in an op-ed.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe touched on the subject of “super soldiers” in The Wall Street Journal, among a number of other threats that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to the U.S.

American intelligence indicates China has engaged in human testing with the aim of “developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities,” Ratcliffe wrote. His office declined media requests for follow-up interviews on the topic.

In the op-ed, titled “China Is National Security Threat No. 1,” Ratcliffe named China as the greatest threat to democracy and freedom since the Second World War. He went on to list a number of its tactics.

The DNI described China’s approach to economic espionage as “rob, replicate and replace,” citing the example of the Chinese company Sinovel (華銳風電), which a U.S. federal court found had stolen trade secrets from American Superconductor. The U.S. company sustained massive losses, while today Sinovel operates “as if it built a legitimate business through ingenuity and hard work rather than theft,” Ratcliffe wrote.

He noted that U.S. government estimates of the impact of Chinese intellectual property theft are as high as US$500 billion a year.

CCP influence operations targeted at American politicians are also on the rise, Ratcliffe stated. He pointed to a campaign aimed at “several dozen members of Congress and congressional aides” and said that China is seeking to influence Congress at “six times the frequency of Russia and 12 times the frequency of Iran,” though he did not elaborate.

The intelligence chief also mentioned a scenario in which Chinese-owned factories at the behest of Beijing pressure American workers via trade unions to demand that local politicians adopt pro-China policies. He claimed operations of this sort have become normal.