CIA Director William Burns said Tuesday that Russia’s military struggles in Ukraine and the force of Western sanctions had “unsettled” China, but warned that the United States should not underestimate Beijing’s determination to force unification with Taiwan.

Burns made the assessment during the House Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on worldwide threats, which was also attended by several other intelligence chiefs.

While “the partnership between Russia and China has strengthened since 2019, President Xi and the Chinese leadership are a little bit unsettled by what they’re seeing in Ukraine,” Burns told the committee.

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, said Burns.

Beijing is also worried about the conflict’s impact 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,” Burns said, though the conflict may change the “Chinese calculus” on the issue.

Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said the Western response, both 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 U.S. could do to prevent it.

In response, Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said he believed Taiwan and Ukraine were “two different things completely,” not least because of the strength of the U.S. “deterrence posture” in the Pacific.

Haines, whose agency publishes the U.S. intelligence community’s annual threat assessment report, said China had remained an “unparalleled priority,” while Russia, Iran, and North Korea also represented pressing threats to U.S. 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 in 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.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel