Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat freedom since World War Two

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The top U.S. intelligence official stepped up President Donald Trump's harsh attacks on Beijing on Thursday by labeling China the biggest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War Two and saying it was bent on global domination.

"The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically," Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in an opinion article posted on the Wall Street Journal website.

Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman appointed by Trump to the top U.S. spy job last spring, said China posed "the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War Two." (Reporting by Mark Hosenball and David Brunnstrom; editing by Jonathan Oatis)