World War 3 fears as Xi Jinping 'purges China's military and brings in generals ... trends now
Xi Jingping is purging China's military and bringing in generals willing to go to war in a move that could lead to an invasion of Taiwan and drag the Unites States into World War Three, military analysts have said.
The Chinese leader, seen by many as a dictator, is 'trying to gain control of the military,' Gordon Chang told Business Insider, adding: 'I think that he is thinking that he needs officers who are prepared to actually fight.'
According to Chang, author of 'China Is Going to War', Xi feels 'that many of China's general officers don't want to fight.' As a result, he said, the Chinese premier sees 'a force led by an officer corps that is ambivalent about going to war.'
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and fears have grown in recent years that Xi is planning an invasion in the coming years, in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric and simulated blockades of the island.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to take what it views as a renegade province, and Xi has said that unification is inevitable.
But Beijing has also been involved in low-level clashes with India along their shared border, as well as disputes over nearby islands with Japan and the Philippines.
Xi Jingping (pictured on January 12) is purging China 's military and bringing in generals willing to go to war in a move that could lead to an invasion of Taiwan and drag the Unites States into World War Three, military analysts have said
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and fears have grown in recent years that Xi is planning an invasion in the coming years, in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric and simulated blockades of the island. But China has been involved in other flash points, too. Pictured: Chinese soldiers take part in a simulated beach assault
Since taking power in 2012, he has overhauled Beijing's military forces with a series of reforms while also cutting its personnel, working to improve military-civilian corporation and reshaping its structure.
On December 29, 2023, he dismissed nine senior offices in one go, a move that analysts and US intelligence suggested was to root out corruption.
Chang, however, told Business Insider that this theory misses the point 'because if that were the case, all of them would be sacked.' Instead, he believes that it was likely the officers who were struck off were reluctant to go to war.
He pointed to one example, that of Chinese Air Force General Liu Yazhou, who warned against an invasion of Taiwan.
In February 2022 he received a suspended death sentence.
Joel Wuthnow, another expert on China, told Business Insider that the removals suggest Xi is 'concerned
