A US Air Force general predicts armed conflicts between Beijing and Washington in two years. He justifies this with his "gut feeling" and presidential elections. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee seems to share these concerns.
According to a leading Republican foreign policy maker, the United States must prepare for a military escalation of the Taiwan conflict. "There's a very good chance we're going to see a conflict with China and Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region," new House Foreign Relations Committee chairman Mike McCaul told Fox News.
If China cannot take control of the island republic without bloodshed, he says it will consider a military invasion. "We have to be prepared for that." McCaul was referring to a recent assessment by a four-star general in the US Air Force who had predicted a war with China in 2025.
"Hope I'm wrong," General Mike Minihan wrote of his prediction in a Friday memo dated February 1, addressed to all Air Mobility Command commanders. "My gut feeling tells me that we will fight in 2025." The US and Taiwan held presidential elections the next year. This gives Chinese President Xi Jinping the opportunity to take military action, Minihan justified his prediction.
The People's Republic of China does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, but regards the island as its own territory. "I hope he's wrong," MP McCaul said of the general's comments. "But I think he's right."
The Republican accused the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden of painting a picture of weakness after the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. That could increase the likelihood of a war with China. The US Department of Defense said Minihan's comments were not representative of the Department's position on China.
