CIA Chief: Ukraine Making China Rethink When, Not Whether, to Invade Taiwan

CIA chief William Burns. (Getty Images)
CIA chief William Burns. (Getty Images)
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CIA Chief: Ukraine Making China Rethink When, Not Whether, to Invade Taiwan

CIA chief William Burns. (Getty Images)
CIA chief William Burns. (Getty Images)

China appears determined on using force in Taiwan, with Russia's experience in Ukraine affecting Beijing's calculations on how, not whether, to invade, the head of the CIA said Wednesday.

Appearing at the Aspen Security Forum, Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns played down speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping could move on Taiwan after a key Communist Party meeting later this year, AFP said.

"The risks of that become higher, it seems to us, the further into this decade that you get," Burns said.

Burns said that China was "unsettled" when looking at Russia's five-month-old war in Ukraine, which he characterized as a "strategic failure" for President Vladimir Putin as he had hoped to topple the Kyiv government within a week.

"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.

He said that China is believed to have observed from Ukraine that "you don't achieve quick, decisive victories with underwhelming force."

"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 said.

China also has likely learned that it has to "control the information space" and "do everything you can to shore up your economy against the potential for sanctions," he added.

Burns, in line with previous US assessments, said that the United States does not believe that Beijing is offering military support to Russia despite rhetorical backing.

He said China has stepped up purchases of Russian energy but appears careful about not incurring Western sanctions.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

China's defeated nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the mainland's civil war, but the island has since developed into a vibrant democracy and leading technological power.



South Korea’s Main Opposition Party Taps Former Party Chief as Presidential Candidate

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party's former leader Lee Jae-myung delivers his speech after winning the nomination as the June 3 presidential election candidate during a party's convention in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party's former leader Lee Jae-myung delivers his speech after winning the nomination as the June 3 presidential election candidate during a party's convention in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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South Korea’s Main Opposition Party Taps Former Party Chief as Presidential Candidate

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party's former leader Lee Jae-myung delivers his speech after winning the nomination as the June 3 presidential election candidate during a party's convention in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party's former leader Lee Jae-myung delivers his speech after winning the nomination as the June 3 presidential election candidate during a party's convention in Goyang, South Korea, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea’s main liberal opposition party tapped Sunday its former leader Lee Jae-myung as presidential candidate in the upcoming June 3 vote.

The Democratic Party said Lee has won nearly 90% of the votes cast during the party’s primary that ended Sunday, defeating two competitors.

Lee, a liberal who wants greater economic parity in South Korea and warmer ties with North Korea, has solidified his position as front-runner to succeed recently ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Lee had led the opposition-controlled parliament’s impeachment of Yoon over his imposition of martial law before the Constitutional Court formally dismissed him in early April. Yoon’s ouster prompted a snap election set for June 3 to find a new president, who’ll be given a full, single five-year term, The AP news reported.

Lee, 60, lost the 2022 election to Yoon in the narrowest margin recorded in the country’s presidential elections.

He is the clear favorite to win the election.

In a Gallup Korea poll released Friday, 38% of respondents chose Lee as their preferred new president, while all other aspirants obtained single-digit support ratings. The main conservative People Power Party is to nominate its candidate next weekend, and its four presidential hopefuls competing to win the party ticket won combined 23% of support ratings in the Gallup survey.

Lee, who served as the governor of South Korea’s most populous Gyeonggi province and a mayor of Seongnam city, has long established an image as an anti-establishment figure who can eliminate deep-rooted unfairness, inequality and corruption in South Korea. But his critics view him as a populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonizing opponents and worry his rule would likely end up intensifying a domestic division.