CIA Director William Burns on Tuesday said that Russia’s military struggles in Ukraine and the force of Western sanctions had “unsettled” China, but warned that Washington should not underestimate Beijing’s determination to force unification with Taiwan.
Burns made the assessment at an annual US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats, which was also attended by several other intelligence chiefs.
While “the partnership between Russia and China has strengthened since 2019, [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping, 習近平] and the Chinese leadership are a little bit unsettled by what they’re seeing in Ukraine,” Burns told the committee.
Photo: AFP
China did not anticipate the difficulties that the Russians were going to run into in Ukraine, and is concerned by the “reputational damage” coming from its close association with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Burns said.
Beijing is also worried about the conflict’s effects on the global economy, coming at a time when China’s annual growth has slowed, as well as the way it has driven Europeans and Americans closer together, he said.
Despite these concerns, “I would not underestimate President Xi and the Chinese leadership’s determination with regard to Taiwan,” although the conflict might change the “Chinese calculus” on the issue, Burns said.
US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that the Western response, in terms of its unity and the impact of the sanctions, demonstrates to China “the seriousness with which we would approach an infringement on Taiwan.”
During the hearing, several lawmakers asked whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would embolden China to launch an attack on Taiwan, and what the US could do to prevent it.
US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Scott Berrier said he believed that Taiwan and Ukraine are “two different things completely,” not least because of the strength of the US “deterrence posture” in the Pacific.
Haines, whose agency publishes the US intelligence community’s annual threat assessment report, said that China remains an “unparalleled priority,” while Russia, Iran and North Korea also represent pressing threats to US national interests.
China, in particular, excels at “bringing together a coordinated, whole-of-government approach” to demonstrate its strength and pressure its neighbors into accepting its positions, including its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, she said.
“China would prefer coerced unification that avoids armed conflict, and it has been stepping up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on [Taiwan] for years to isolate it and weaken its confidence in its democratically elected leaders,” Haines said.
“At the same time, Beijing is preparing to use military force if it decides this is necessary,” she added.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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