Singapore: To the outside world, General Zhang Youxia seemed relatively secure at the top of China’s military machine. President Xi Jinping has stepped up military pressure around Taiwan. Former CIA Director William Burns said in 2023 the US had intelligence that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had told his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027. APBut Xi has signalled that he wants the “Taiwan question” resolved on his watch and is widely expected to seek an unprecedented fourth term in 2027. Regardless of their removal, the probability of achieving the 2027 Taiwan invasion capability remains extremely low, he says.