China has taken the top spot as the biggest cyber threat facing the United States, overtaking Russia and North Korea, based on intelligence assessments shared by top Dutch officials.
The warning came from Vice Adm. Peter Reesink, head of the Netherlands’ military intelligence agency MIVD, during an interview with POLITICO. Reesink said:
“China has a very complex, organized cyber system. And we are not able to have a full grasp on what they can do. I would say that it’s more threatening than Russia.”
This change in global threat perception isn’t based on speculation. The MIVD’s latest report shows growing cooperation between China and Russia on military, economic, and geopolitical fronts.
Reesink said the West is still too distracted by Putin’s war in Ukraine to understand what China is already pulling off in the digital space. And what China is doing is not some theory — it’s backed by real infiltration.
China’s cyber campaign hits US telecoms and Europe
Last year, American intelligence revealed that a Chinese cyber crew called Salt Typhoon had spent over a year inside the networks of major US telecom providers. That wasn’t a one-off. Reesink said similar attacks happened in Europe too, targeting around 10 countries.
He said, “We saw something similar happening in Europe, although not at the same level as in the US.” But he made it clear that no one really knows how deep China’s cyber structure goes. “What we can observe is only a limited part,” he said.
Russia, on the other hand, is still playing the disruptive game. The MIVD report confirmed that Russian hackers targeted Dutch political party websites and public transportation systems during the European elections in June 2023. The goal was to jam the system and stop voters.
Reesink explained that this kind of political interference isn’t just happening in the Netherlands. “We have information of Russian interference in different elections, and not only through disinformation,” he said, adding it’s mostly in countries that used to be under Moscow’s control.
But even with Russia launching cyberattacks and shelling Ukraine, China is the one playing the long game. Quiet, calculated, and deeper than anyone can map out. Reesink made it clear that this isn’t just Europe’s problem anymore.
Still, MIVD doesn’t believe Putin is launching a new war tomorrow. But Reesink said Russia could be ready for another major conflict within a year, depending on how things go with Ukraine and how fast production continues.
That’s why NATO, including the Netherlands, is already in “enhanced readiness.” Reesink admitted Europe had been dragging its feet for the last 20 to 30 years, but said, “Most ministries have faced budget cuts — except defense.”
Trump’s intelligence shakeup creates tension with Europe
Things aren’t calm on the American side either. Since Trump returned to the White House in November, he’s taken a scalpel to US intelligence agencies — cutting budgets, pushing out dissenters, and stacking leadership with loyalists. Reesink said:
“It’s not a very comfortable signal from the US when you see the leadership on their side from the intelligence agencies being … well, having to seek another job.”
Still, he said this forced Europe to look in the mirror and finally realize it needs to handle its problems. “It was a good look in the mirror for Europe and the role we have to play for ourselves,” Reesink said. That mindset has started to stick.
He pointed out that for the first time ever, a full meeting of both military and civilian intelligence directors from across Europe happened recently in Brussels. Everyone showed up. That wasn’t normal, but this isn’t a normal time.
Despite the chaos, Reesink said there’s still strong working-level collaboration between European and American intelligence teams. But he had a warning. Trump’s stance on Russia — especially his spreading of pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine — has created real tension.
Reesink said Europe now has to think twice before sharing everything with Washington. “We weigh our level of cooperation, the amount and the intensity in which we share,” he said. “And that could mean in the end that we are changing the way we have to cooperate with the US”
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