China's army fielded missiles filled with water instead of fuel and arrays of silos with improper lids — examples of military corruption that led to a dramatic purge of top officials, Bloomberg reported, citing US intelligence.

Bloomberg, which did not name its sources, reported on Saturday that the intelligence indicated Xi Jinping's recent ousting of more than a dozen senior commanders in the People's Liberation Army stemmed from serious issues of graft such as these.

In an ominous start to 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's address that "reunification" with Taiwan is inevitable — a stronger tone than he used last year.

Why it matters: Beijing claims the self-governing island and its recent military exercises and build-up have raised alarms over a potential invasion. With President Biden vowing to defend Taiwan, that scenario could lead to a superpower confrontation.

What he's saying: "The reunification of the motherland is a historical inevitability," Xi said.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised the reunification of Taiwan with mainland China during his year-end address on Sunday.

Tensions between China and Taiwan remain high, and Taiwanese voters are set to participate in the island's elections on Jan. 13. Xi has repeatedly affirmed China's stance that Taiwan is a part of China and that it must be reunified, by force if necessary.

"All Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Xi said in Sunday's address.

China's "reunification" with Taiwan is inevitable, President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's address on Sunday, striking a stronger tone than he did last year with less than two weeks to go before the Chinese-claimed island elects a new leader.

The Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections are happening at a time of fraught relations between Beijing and Taipei. China has been ramping up military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over democratically governed Taiwan.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce participated in a fancy San Francisco dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday that included CEOs from major U.S. companies, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Chinese officials, according to a seating chart first obtained by the Daily Caller.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had not changed his view that Chinese President Xi Jinping was effectively a dictator, a comment likely to land with a thud in Beijing after the two leaders held straightforward summit talks.

Biden held a solo news conference after four hours of talks with Xi on the outskirts of San Francisco. At the end of the news conference, he was asked whether he still held the view that Xi was a dictator, something he said in June.

Had Donald Trump been the U.S. president hosting this week’s APEC meetings, I have no doubt that the headline from the event would have been unchanged. It would have been: “He’s a dictator.”

The only difference is it would be Xi Jinping who was saying it to describe Trump.

Other than that, though, a Trump-hosted APEC meeting would likely have been unrecognizably different from the successful and productive forum hosted by President Joe Biden.

It’s not every day you can run a headline like the one above this column. For more than a year your humble correspondent has been urging President Joe Biden to avoid public speaking but must acknowledge that on one subject his commentary has been accurate and helpful. Now let’s hope that his staff doesn’t try to contradict him.