WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US intelligence chiefs said on Tuesday that China would prefer to seize neighboring Taiwan without military intervention, but is trying to put itself in a position where its military would win even if the US intervened.
China considers Taiwan, a democratically administered island, to be its “sacred” territory and has never stopped using possible force to achieve unification.
The United States, like most countries, has no diplomatic ties to Taiwan, but Taiwan, its most important backer and international arms supplier, is a constant source of tension between Beijing and Washington.
“Our view is that they (the Chinese) are working hard to effectively place themselves in a position where their military can take Taiwan, even with our intervention,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
Haines and Defense Intelligence Agency director Lieutenant General Scott Berrier testified about global threats to US national security, while discussing what China can learn from the war in Ukraine and the international response to it.
Haines said he did not believe the war would accelerate China’s Taiwan plans. Berrier said using the military to achieve its goal was not Beijing’s first choice.
(Reported by Doina Chiacu, Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle)
source: Noticias
