CIA Director William Burns. Photo: Associated Press/Dazhi Image (file photo)
CIA Director William Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in the United States on the 20th that China is determined to use force against Taiwan, and the lessons of the Ukrainian-Russian war will not let China Give up attacking Taiwan, and let China start to figure out how and when to attack Taiwan. He will not underestimate Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s ambition to invade Taiwan. The more the next 10 years go, the higher the risk of China’s invasion of Taiwan, but he will not attack Taiwan immediately after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
According to foreign media reports such as the British “Guardian” and the “Washington Times” of the United States, Burns emphasized that he will not underestimate Xi Jinping’s determination to control Taiwan, and the risk of military action in the next few years is high. The Chinese leadership is trying to study the lessons of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and according to a CIA analysis, the question now is not whether Chinese leaders will choose to use force to control Taiwan in a few years’ time, but “how and when” they will do so.
Burns pointed out that Xi Jinping and the top Chinese leadership are uneasy about the Russian military’s record in Ukraine, especially in the first phase and the performance of the Russian military’s weapons and equipment. coming uncertainty. It is estimated that China has observed from the Ukraine war that “you cannot achieve a quick and decisive victory without sufficient overwhelming power”.
In a separate interview with NBC News, Burns mentioned that Beijing has likely learned that it must control the “information space” and do everything it can to support its economy and prevent the use of force. the possibility of being sanctioned. Although Beijing has given Moscow verbal support, the United States does not believe that China will provide Russia with military support. Although China has increased its purchases of Russian energy, it seems to be careful not to incur sanctions from Western countries.
Also present at the forum was Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, who declared before Burns: “The Taiwan issue has always been the most important and sensitive core issue in Sino-US relations. China loves peace, and we are the least willing to compatriots. We will try our best to achieve the prospect of peaceful reunification, but China will not give up non-peaceful means, not targeting the people of Taiwan, but to contain the separatist forces of ‘Taiwan independence’ and prevent external forces from interfering.”