Chinese President Xi Jinping Considered Military Seizure of Taiwan Before Ukraine Crisis Revealed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping considered a plan to forcibly take control of Taiwan before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On the 16th, Taiwan's Liberty Times reported, citing a Russian intelligence agency report, that Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin recently disclosed on Facebook, quoting a confidential report from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), that this was the case.

The FSB confidential report contained information that President Xi Jinping considered a plan to forcibly invade Taiwan this year and "fully take over" Taiwan before the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

The report also added that President Xi aimed to smoothly secure his third term as chairman at the party congress by promoting the "public achievement" of "recovering Taiwan."

However, it was assessed that the possibility of China forcibly taking control of Taiwan has become virtually slim due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Osechkin, who runs the anti-corruption website "Gulagnet," explained that the confidential report he disclosed this time was an intelligence analysis document from the FSB.

Regarding the authenticity of the document, Russian security expert Christo Grozev said that after showing it to two current and former FSB employees, he received the response that the document was "undoubtedly written by an FSB colleague."

In response, Wu Zhaoxie, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that although the authenticity of the document is uncertain, Taiwan must always be well prepared for defense anytime and anywhere, regardless of whether China attacks Taiwan.

After the FSB report became known, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, stated, "Our determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territory remains unchanged," adding, "We will never allow any person or force to infringe upon or divide the sacred territory of our motherland."

The spokesperson further added, "If the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces provoke, pressure, or even cross the red line, we will have no choice but to take 'bold' measures."

Earlier, Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan's Minister of National Defense, appeared before the Legislative Yuan (parliament) in early October last year and assessed that this is the most serious time in his 40 years as a soldier.

He said that China already has the capability to invade Taiwan but would have to pay a considerable cost, predicting that by 2025, the cost China must pay will decrease, enabling it to have the power to fully invade Taiwan.

Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping attended a national group New Year's greeting event ahead of the Chinese New Year (Chunje), China's biggest holiday, at the end of January, where he declared opposition to Taiwan independence and vowed to strengthen the struggle to promote reunification.

Since the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887?1975), who was defeated in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, retreated to Taiwan, China has not effectively controlled Taiwan but considers it a region that must be recovered.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday that three Chinese military aircraft?two J-10 fighter jets and one KA-28 anti-submarine helicopter?entered Taiwan's southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Taiwanese media pointed out that when 13 Chinese military aircraft entered the southwestern ADIZ on the 14th, Chinese military drones also entered together, emphasizing the need to establish countermeasures against this.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.