China does ⁠not currently plan to attack ⁠Taiwan in 2027 and seeks to ⁠control the island without the use of force, the US intelligence community said on Wednesday, striking a measured tone on one of the world’s biggest potential flashpoints.

The assessment in the intelligence agencies’ annual report on global threats comes as Beijing has stepped up ‌pressure on Taiwan with frequent military drills, even as US President Donald Trump has played down the risk of Chinese military action while he is in office.

The Pentagon late last year said the US military believed China was preparing to be able to win a fight for Taiwan by 2027, the centenary of the founding of its People’s Liberation Army, and was refining options to ⁠take Taiwan by “brute force” if needed.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

“China, despite its threat to use force ‌to compel unification if necessary and to counter what it sees as a US attempt to use Taiwan to undermine China’s rise, prefers to achieve unification without the ‌use of force, if possible,” the US intelligence agencies said in the report.

Beijing lays out its views on world order at Chinese Foreign Minister’s press conference

Beijing lays out its views on world order at Chinese Foreign Minister’s press conference

The US “assesses that ⁠Chinese leaders do ⁠not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification”, the ‌report said.