Xi's anti-corruption effort to help PLA invade Taiwan by 2027: U.S. report

Washington, March 23 (CNA) Chinese President Xi Jinping's (習近平) decade-long campaign to end People's Liberation Army (PLA) corruption is meant to ensure the military is modernized and prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027, according to a U.S. intelligence report made public last week.

The report released on March 20 and published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), titled "Wealth and Corrupt Activities of the Leadership of the Chinese Communist Party," states that up to 65 percent of all government officials in China accept bribes or engage in graft.

Xi launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign when he came to power in 2012. Since then, nearly 5 million officials at all levels of government have been found guilty of bribery, the report said.

The campaign has targeted rampant leadership corruption within the ranks of the PLA, "which have included a culture of pay-for-promotion that continues even a decade after the anti-corruption campaign's launch."

Some of the biggest names removed from their jobs include General Li Shangfu, then-Minister of National Defense in 2023 and Admiral Miao Hua, then-director of the Central Military Commission's Political Work Department who was in charge of political loyalty within the PLA in 2024.

"Both Li and Miao were accused of Party discipline violations, and both were considered protegees of Xi, demonstrating the seriousness of the CCP's concerns regarding loyalty and effectiveness -- particularly within the PLA -- and the scope of the regime's approach to corruption," the DNI report said.

"His focus on corruption in the PLA may also reflect concerns that corrupt practices will prevent the military from acquiring the capabilities and readiness he has directed it to achieve by 2027, in preparation for a potential conflict over Taiwan," it added.

The report defines corruption as an "endemic feature of and challenge for China, enabled by a political system with power highly centralized in the hands of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], a CCP-centric concept of the rule of law, a lack of independent checks on public officials and limited transparency."

In October 2020, Xi set the PLA the goal of becoming a "modern military" by 2027. U.S. officials believe this means Xi wants China to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.

The report also claims that Xi has amassed more than US$1 billion in assets through relatives.

The six-page unclassified DNI report was commissioned by the U.S. Congress under the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation mandating a report was sponsored by Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles and then-Florida Senator Marco Rubio, now secretary of state.

The Washington Times said the DNI report is the first official U.S. disclosure about the "sensitive subject of Chinese leadership and CCP corruption."

A congressional aide said that a Chinese Embassy official lobbied Congress unsuccessfully to have the report killed, according to a Washington Times report on March 20.