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China ‘carefully’ studying Ukraine war, as it eyes Taiwan: CIA chief

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A man rides a bicycle EPA-EFE/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/05/07/20220507-man-rides-a-bicycle-past-a-destroyed-russian-tank-epa-efe.jpg"/><figcaption>A man rides a bicycle past a destroyed Russian tank in Rusaniv, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 16, 2022. Sergey Dolzhenko, EPA-EFE/file</figcaption></figure></div>China is closely studying Russian&#x27;s invasion of Ukraine and is likely adjusting its long-term plans for gaining control of Taiwan based on the lessons from the war, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday.&quot;Clearly the Chinese leadership is trying to look carefully at what lessons they should draw from Ukraine about their own ambitions and Taiwan,&quot; Burns told a Financial Times conference.Burns said he thinks Beijing has been &quot;surprised&quot; by the poor performance of Russian military forces as well as the tough resistance coming from the entire Ukrainian society.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/03/11/22/ukraine-a-model-for-taiwan-defense-says-us-official">Ukraine is model for Taiwan defense should China violate its &#x27;sovereignty&#x27; -U.S. official</a></li></ul>&quot;I think they&#x27;ve been struck by the way in which particularly the transatlantic alliance has come together to impose economic costs on Russia as a result of that aggression,&quot; he continued.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/18/21/low-probability-of-china-trying-to-seize-taiwan-in-near-term-says-top-us-general">Low probability of China trying to seize Taiwan in near term, says top US general</a></li></ul>Beijing has been &quot;unsettled by the fact that what Putin has done is to drive Europeans and Americans closer together,&quot; Burns said.&quot;What conclusions get drawn from all that remains a question mark,&quot; he said.&quot;I think the Chinese leadership is looking very carefully at all this, at the costs and consequences of any effort to use force to gain control over Taiwan.&quot;Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which sees the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be retaken one day, by force if necessary.China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016, as she considers the island a sovereign nation and not part of Chinese territory.

CIA director Bill Burns says he thinks Beijing has been ‘surprised’ by the poor performance of Russian military forces.