Senate Intel Chief Mark Warner Cautions Against China’s Growing Tech-Based Spying Capabilities

The Virginia Democrat also said expressed concerns about the appointments of two lawmakers involved in January 6th to the House Intelligence Committee, at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Tuesday

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, speaks with reporters Tuesday at the Christian Science Monitor Breakfast in Washington. Warner has been cautioning lawmakers and the public about the persistent threat of misinformation this campaign season and the growing power of China. (Photo courtesy The Christian Science Monitor.)

WASHINGTON — Mark Warner, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, cautioned Tuesday against China’s growing aggression towards the U.S., citing it’s expansive role on the world stage — ranging from having a hand in the globe’s most powerful media outlet (TikTok) to establishing an African mining operation designed to harvest he minerals used in manufacturing cellphones and microchips to fuel Chinese Communist Party spycraft. 

“The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) sees this as a propaganda and potentially espionage tool,” Warner said. “We don’t want to ban TikTok, we just don’t want it controlled by the CCP.” 

Warner told reporters that TikTok outguns the combined U.S. media in terms of sheer reach and influence. “I’m not sure (American media’s) full reach is 170 million Americans, 90 minutes a day, especially in terms of that under-24 demographic,” he said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast event.