CIA Director William J. Burns said Wednesday that Russia’s arduous invasion of Ukraine is making China rethink how it approaches a potential war in Taiwan, The Straits Times reported.
Burns assured while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum that the probability of China invading Taiwan increases "the further into this decade that you get." However, he also played down estimates of a timetable toward the end of this year.
The CIA director instead focused on China's response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, noting that the Communist Party was "unsettled" at the failure of the Kremlin's initial offensive on Kyiv.
"Our sense is that it probably affects less the question of whether the Chinese leadership might choose some years down the road to use force to control Taiwan, but how and when they would do it," Burns said.
"I suspect the lesson that the Chinese leadership and military are drawing is that you've got to amass overwhelming force if you're going to contemplate that in the future," he added.
Burns further pointed to the necessity of China to control the dissemination of information and supply chain leading up to and during a possible invasion.
The news comes as President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intention to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping "within the next 10 days."
If the phone meeting occurs, it would serve as the first one-on-one call between the world leaders since March, The Hill reported.
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