Former CIA station chief warns of China becoming more aggressive to the West

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China ramping up espionage efforts in US amid scrutiny over COVID-19

Former CIA Station Chief Dan Hoffman warns China has become even more aggressive in targeting U.S. defense and intelligence.

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The divide between the United States and China will only continue to grow in the coming months and years following the coronavirus pandemic, former CIA station chief and Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman said Wednesday.

Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with host Brian Kilmeade, Hoffman said that the virus has made China more aggressive and hostile to Western countries because they are trying to spread the narrative that they weren't responsible for concealing the outbreak from their own citizens and the rest of the world — causing great harm worldwide.

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"And I think we're seeing an ongoing effort, on their part, to conduct massive espionage against us," he remarked. "We are also seeing them take advantage of the coronavirus. They [have] shipped a lot of drones with the [Da Jiang Innovations] company – which is a Chinese firm – to over 20 states in the United States that conduct surveillance. And, it's an opportunity for China simply to download reporting on our critical infrastructure."

Hoffman told Kilmeade it "remains to be seen" whether or not the Chinese will receive backlash for their part in the pandemic from other countries, but "certainly in our own country we will be questioning whether we want to rely on China for [our] key supply chain."

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, center, who founded local newspaper Apple Daily, is arrested by police officers at his home in Hong Kong, Saturday, April 18, 2020. Hong Kong police arrested at least 14 pro-democracy lawmakers and activists on Saturday on charges of joining unlawful protests last year calling for reforms. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

"We have already had that discussion about Huawei over concerns that China would use 5G technology to spy on us as they do their own citizens," he stated.

"I think that is certainly a concern going forward and it's an opportunity for the United States to lead the way," Hoffman continued. "But, for sure, China is still trying got use their "one belt one road" initiative, debt-trap diplomacy, and mount again massive espionage operations to steal intellectual property and target other countries — particularly the United [States'] defense sector and the national intelligence community."

Kilmeade harkened back to the protests in Hong Kong. The coronavirus outbreak had put a damper on months of protests in Hong Kong, but political tension over China’s tightening grip on the city looks set to escalate rather than dissipate ahead of elections in September.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has threatened that any challenge to China’s rule won’t be tolerated and has said “restoring order is Hong Kong’s most important task.”

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"[The Chinese are] certainly, again, using the coronavirus to deny Hong Kongers the right they have to freedom of assembly," Hoffman told Kilmeade.

"And, again, that's at the heart of what divides the United States and China. What scares Xi Jinping the most? It's democracy, freedom, and liberty, what's enshrined in our Constitution, in the Bill of Rights. And, it's only, I think, going to continue to increase in intensity in the coming months and years," he concluded.