WASHINGTON, D.C.: United States intelligence shows that China's President Xi Jinping has instructed his country's military to get ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, though he may be currently harboring doubts about his ability to do so, given Russia's experience in its war on Ukraine, according to the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

In a television interview that aired on Sunday, CIA Director William Burns said Washington must take Xi's desire to ultimately control Taiwan 'very seriously,' even if military conflict is not inevitable.