China preparing Taiwan takeover by 2027 – CNN

CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said that Chinese President Xi Jinping wants his military to be capable of seizing Taiwan by 2027, according to a CNN correspondent, Report informs referring to RT.

However, Cohen is reported to have said that the agency still believes China wants a peaceful reunification with the island.

Cohen’s statement was reported by CNN journalist Katie Bo Lillis, who herself said that Xi is not preparing for a certain invasion of Taiwan, but rather wants “the capability to take control of Taiwan by force.”

“He has not made the decision to do that, but he has asked his military to put him in a position where if that's what he wanted to do, he would be able to,” Lillis quoted Cohen as saying. “It's still the assessment of the [Intelligence Community] as a whole that Xi's interest in Taiwan is to get control through nonmilitary means.”