US must prepare for China invasion of Taiwan: On Wednesday, a top admiral said there are more worries about what Beijing wants to do with the island and that the US military needs to prepare for a possible invasion of Taiwan as soon as this year.
Admiral Michael Gilday, in charge of US naval operations, is the latest top official in Washington. He worries about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s increased willingness to annex Taiwan.
Taiwan’s top security officer warned that any invasion would fail and make China a pariah worldwide.
On Sunday, Xi, who is poised to win a third five-year term as China’s leader, pledged to “reunify” or take over Taiwan.
Xi’s statement questioned by a think tank, and he agreed with another US admiral that Beijing will seize Taiwan by 2027.
“It’s not merely what President Xi says,” Gilday told the Atlantic Council.
Over the last 20 years, they have honored every commitment, sometimes sooner than promised.
Thus, “in my judgment, when we talk about the 2027 window, it ought to be a 2022 or possibly a 2023 window.”
“I can’t say for sure. I don’t intend to seem too alarmist when I say that. Just that we are unable to change it.”
The Communist Party of China does not run Taiwan right now, even though it claims to own the island.
Even though Congress is required by law to give Taiwan defensive weapons and Taiwan is not a treaty ally of the US, there is support from both parties to keep what has become a progressive democracy and an important trading partner.
Beijing has always maintained that although it prefers “peaceful reunification,” it has the right to use force when necessary, particularly if the island officially declares independence.
The rhetoric and actions against Taiwan have intensified under Xi, China’s most forceful leader in a generation. The military has increased weapons purchases in preparation for an invasion.
Xi says that the goal of reunification can’t pass on from one generation to the next forever. So he has linked annexing Taiwan to his plan for the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese country.”
Concerns about Beijing retaliating against Taiwan’s 23 million citizens after Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, which China did not denounce, have also expressed.
Military strategists have consistently warned that Taiwan is hard to take over because of its location and shape, even if you have a lot of troops.
Chen Ming-tong, the director of national security in Taiwan, shared that attitude and issued a similar warning to Xi.
He told reporters on Thursday in Taipei, “I want to sincerely remind the Beijing leadership that there is no prospect of prevailing to conquer Taiwan by force.”
The “great rejuvenation of the Chinese country” would ruined, and Xi would become a sinner in the eyes of the Chinese people.
This would result in worldwide economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, issued a warning on Monday, saying that “a very new China” has evolved under Xi and that Beijing intends to annex Taiwan “on a considerably speedier schedule” than previously thought.
Blinken also cautioned that a conflict involving Taiwan would have an “enormous” effect on world commerce.