report<\/a><\/span> by The Washington Post citing six sources familiar with the initiative, the plan has not yet been put into effect. The newspaper reported that the initiative remains at the planning stage. The Pentagon, however, denies that any such initiative exists.<\/p>\nThe report said the operatives would pose as entrepreneurs or private sector employees while concealing their ties to the US government. The network’s mission would be to gather economic intelligence and counter China.<\/p>\n
The programme is led by Tom Rakusa, who spent 39 years at the CIA. Rakusa serves as a senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of Defence Steve Feinberg.<\/p>\n
The proposed spy network is seen as part of a broader policy by the Donald Trump administration to sharpen economic competition with other countries.<\/p>\n
The US is already resorting to tariffs, export controls, and investment in strategic sectors, alongside expanding its economic intelligence gathering.<\/p>\n
According to The Washington Post, the new initiative demonstrates the Pentagon’s growing influence under the Trump administration. The department is currently seeking a record budget of $1.5 trillion.<\/p>\n
Trade war flares up again with Trump’s return to the White House<\/strong><\/p>\nThe trade friction between the US and China flared up again following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. In April 2025, Washington raised tariffs on Chinese goods to as much as 145%, and Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 125%.<\/p>\n
In May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described China as the primary geopolitical challenge facing Washington. Rubio said that to avoid war, the two sides needed to manage their conflict of interests.<\/p>\n
In July, Chinese expert Zheng Yongnian did not simply warn that underestimating the US could prove to be a “fatal mistake”; he stated it explicitly.<\/p>\n
According to Zheng’s assessment, the US maintains its primacy through the role of the dollar, its military superiority, and its technological advantages.<\/p>\n
Even so, the two sides agreed in June to declare a truce and lower tariffs. In autumn 2026, the US and China extended their trade truce until 10 January 2027.<\/p>\n
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the extension would give the parties more time to discuss economic issues.<\/p>\n
Trade deals do not eliminate the strategic contradictions between the two countries. Financial Times columnist Rana Foroohar likened the race between the two nations for commercial, technological, and geopolitical influence to the 19th-century “Great Game” between the Russian and British empires.<\/p>\n
Foroohar cited China’s standing in shipbuilding and commercial maritime transport, as well as its expanding footprint in overseas ports, among its key advantages.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US Department of War (Pentagon) is reportedly planning to establish an extensive network of deep-cover agents to wage economic warfare against China and other adversaries of the US. According to a report by The Washington Post citing six sources familiar with the initiative, the plan has not yet been put into effect. The newspaper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[529,16461,319,22676,22672,22673,302,503,3583,823,22675,3916,21705,2360,6904,22674,787,821,21841],"class_list":["post-17052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-china","tag-department-of-war","tag-donald-trump","tag-economic-intelligence","tag-economic-warfare","tag-espionage-network","tag-financial-times","tag-headline","tag-marco-rubio","tag-pentagon","tag-rana-foroohar","tag-scott-bessent","tag-steve-feinberg","tag-tariffs","tag-the-washington-post","tag-tom-rakusa","tag-trade-war","tag-us","tag-zheng-yongnian"],"yoast_head":"\n
Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harici\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haricitr\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Harici.com.tr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@haricitr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@haricitr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Harici.com.tr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harici.com.tr\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/45047d1e0be7e8c266daed68de2cf7aa\"},\"headline\":\"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"China\",\"Department of War\",\"Donald Trump\",\"economic intelligence\",\"economic warfare\",\"espionage network\",\"Financial Times\",\"headline\",\"Marco Rubio\",\"Pentagon\",\"Rana Foroohar\",\"Scott Bessent\",\"Steve Feinberg\",\"tariffs\",\"The Washington Post\",\"Tom Rakusa\",\"trade war\",\"US\",\"Zheng Yongnian\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Asia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\",\"name\":\"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Harici\",\"description\":\"Tracing The Changing World\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Harici\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/harici_admin_logo_compress.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/harici_admin_logo_compress.webp\",\"width\":280,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Harici\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haricitr\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/haricitr\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/45047d1e0be7e8c266daed68de2cf7aa\",\"name\":\"Harici.com.tr\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ede4c0daa2de13cfbd3201e07844b7a0e9c17ad41edea7a38546f494810d8cc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ede4c0daa2de13cfbd3201e07844b7a0e9c17ad41edea7a38546f494810d8cc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Harici.com.tr\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/harici.com.tr\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/author\/hariciadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici","description":"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici","og_description":"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.","og_url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/","og_site_name":"Harici","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haricitr","article_published_time":"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Harici.com.tr","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@haricitr","twitter_site":"@haricitr","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Harici.com.tr","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/"},"author":{"name":"Harici.com.tr","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/45047d1e0be7e8c266daed68de2cf7aa"},"headline":"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says","datePublished":"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/"},"wordCount":461,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg","keywords":["China","Department of War","Donald Trump","economic intelligence","economic warfare","espionage network","Financial Times","headline","Marco Rubio","Pentagon","Rana Foroohar","Scott Bessent","Steve Feinberg","tariffs","The Washington Post","Tom Rakusa","trade war","US","Zheng Yongnian"],"articleSection":["Asia"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/","url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/","name":"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says - Harici","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-22T08:33:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-22T08:33:52+00:00","description":"The Pentagon is reportedly planning a deep-cover spy network to gather economic intelligence and wage economic war on China.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pentagon.jpg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/pentagon-plans-covert-spy-ring-for-economic-war-on-china-report-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon plans covert spy ring for economic war on China, report says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/","name":"Harici","description":"Tracing The Changing World","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#organization","name":"Harici","url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/harici_admin_logo_compress.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/harici_admin_logo_compress.webp","width":280,"height":286,"caption":"Harici"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haricitr","https:\/\/x.com\/haricitr"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/45047d1e0be7e8c266daed68de2cf7aa","name":"Harici.com.tr","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ede4c0daa2de13cfbd3201e07844b7a0e9c17ad41edea7a38546f494810d8cc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ede4c0daa2de13cfbd3201e07844b7a0e9c17ad41edea7a38546f494810d8cc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Harici.com.tr"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/harici.com.tr"],"url":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/author\/hariciadmin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17054,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17052\/revisions\/17054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}