Arguing that Beijing’s communist regime has carried out nearly everything it has promised, a top Navy admiral warns that China could invade Taiwan this year.
“It’s not just what President Xi (Jinping) says, but it’s how the Chinese behave and what they do, and what we’ve seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise they’ve made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it,” said Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of U.S. Naval Operations.
Last week, during the 2022 Communist Party Congress, Xi declared China is prepared to forcefully “oppose Taiwan independence.”
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Gen. Mark Milley said last year that China could invade Taiwan by 2027, when the next National Congress is held. But Gilday – speaking during an event with the Atlantic Council think tank – said he believes it could happen as early as this year or the next.
“I don’t mean at all to be alarmist by saying that. It’s just that we can’t wish that away,” Gilday said.
Beijing long has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China. The U.S., meanwhile, maintains a “one China” policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan. Washington “acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China” while maintaining unofficial relations with Taipei.
President Biden, in an interview with “60 Minutes,” said the if Taiwan were attacked by Beijing, U.S. Armed Forces would defend the island. However, host Scott Pelley said that after the interview with Biden, a White House official said U.S. policy had not changed. The official refused to state whether or not the U.S. military would defend Taiwan.
President Biden tells 60 Minutes that U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. However, after our interview, a White House official told us that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed. https://t.co/ANg54LifSH pic.twitter.com/V5qjoqF36T
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 19, 2022
In August, amid heightened tensions following the visit of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, Beijing fired ballistic missiles near Taiwan’s northeast and southwest coasts.
See Adm. Gilday’s remarks during the Atlantic Council event:
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