China's impressive and growing space capabilities should worry the U.S. "a lot," a top Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official says.
The official, Doug Wade, serves as chief of the DIA's China Mission Group, and he made the comments during a virtual seminar hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance on Tuesday.
"China has a really robust space program," Wade said. "It's probably second only to the United States."
Wade added that China's space program is used for military, intelligence, civilian, scientific and economic purposes. Those capabilities "worry us a lot," he said, particularly China's advancement in counter-space technology.
China's space program has exploded in recent decades, and it should "worry us a lot," says a top U.S. official. (AP Newsroom)
China's leaders have pressed forward with developing counter-space technology. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon / AP Newsroom)
Wade says many Chinese leaders view space as a potential vulnerability for the U.S.
The DIA's China Mission Group is just one of many efforts within the U.S. Defense Department aimed at countering China's aggression.
CIA Director William Burns stated in February that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027.
"Now, that does not mean that he's decided to conduct an invasion in 2027, or any other year, but it's a reminder of the seriousness of his focus and his ambition," Burns added at the time.
China has grown increasingly aggressive toward the self-governed island over the past year.