China's Post-Ukraine Playbook

China’s Post-Ukraine Playbook

Posted: October 20th, 2022

By Mark Kelton

Mark Kelton retired from CIA as a senior executive with 34 years of experience in intelligence operations including serving as CIA’s Deputy Director for Counterintelligence. He is a partner at the FiveEyes Group; a member of the Board of Trustees of Valley Forge Military Academy and College; member of the National Security Advisory Board of the MITRE Corp.; member of the Day & Zimmermann Government Services Advisory Board; member of the Siemens Government Technologies Federal Advisory Board; and a member of the Board of BigMediaTV.

Cipher Brief Expert and retired CIA Senior Executive Mark Kelton took part in a Russia panel during the recent Cipher Brief Threat Conference, along with Cipher Brief Experts Robert Dannenberg and Paul Kolbe, that was focused on Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-term strategy and new alliances. One of those alliances, is with China.

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off the Chinese Communist Party Congress this week by saying China reserves the right to use force to effect, what he calls the ‘reunification’ of Taiwan with the mainland. It’s a statement that should underscore the possibility that Xi, like Putin, is driven by an actuarial calendar that will cause him to move against the island much sooner than many have assumed.

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