(JustPatriots.com)- CIA Director William Burns says China is “unsettled” by Russia’s woes in Ukraine, but it won’t stop Beijing from capturing Taiwan.
At a Financial Times event on Saturday, Burns said that Beijing is weighing the European events. He said that the Chinese leadership is considering the lessons Ukraine might teach them about their own Taiwan ambitions.
Just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin was in Beijing to sign a 5,000-word joint declaration with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, declaring the Russia-China cooperation had “no bounds.”
It was not in China’s interests, according to Beijing officials. Despite considerable doubts in Europe, US officials think Beijing knew about the upcoming military action but underestimated its scope.
But since February 24, European capitals have repeatedly expressed concern about China’s strong political cover for Russia.
Jörg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, recently described Xi as having moved himself into two dead-ends at the same time.
Wuttke remarked that he couldn’t modify his zero-COVID policy or his affinity with Putin.
Burns said Xi is apprehensive of the repercussions of China’s relationship with Russia’s brutality against Ukrainians. The war has created economic uncertainty, especially in a year when Xi’s primary focus is on predictability and getting through a large party convention this coming November. He thinks Xi is uneasy because all Putin has managed to accomplish is bringing Europeans and Americans closer together.
“The whole-of-society” reaction in Ukraine would have shocked Chinese authorities and Russia’s underperformance in the war.
Burns believes they’ve been struck by how the transatlantic alliance has joined together to punish Russia economically for its actions.
Despite essential lessons to learn, Burns believes Xi will achieve his ultimate aim.
He doesn’t think it’s weakened Xi’s resolve to take control over Taiwan, but he thinks it’s hurting their calculations about how and when they accomplish it.
Before March, he said the same thing in Congress.
Last Monday, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said China plans to conquer Taiwan by 2027, the P.L.A.’s centenary.
Milley says President Xi wants his military to be capable, but it’s not to suggest he’ll invade, but more of a desire to have the power to conquer Taiwan.
That’s a very tall order, according to Milley.
