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Beijing ‘fully able’ to invade Taiwan by 2025, island’s defence minister says
- Warning of conflict comes after PLA ramps up pressure on island with warplane sorties
- ‘It is the toughest situation I have seen in more than 40 years of my military life,’ Chiu Kuo-cheng tells legislature
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Mainland China will have the ability to mount a full-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2025, Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told the island’s legislature on Wednesday.
Chiu warned of the risk of a cross-strait conflict as tensions mount in the Taiwan Strait, with Beijing sending 150 warplanes to ramp up pressure on the island in the past few days.
“It is the toughest situation I have seen in more than 40 years of my military life,” Chiu said, referring to a spike in sorties by People’s Liberation Army warplanes to the island’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
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He said that by 2025, Beijing would be able to keep the cost of such conflict at a minimum, meaning it would have the “full ability” to start a war, but it needed to consider various factors before doing so.
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‘The toughest situation I have seen in more than 40 years,’ says Taiwan’s defence minister
‘The toughest situation I have seen in more than 40 years,’ says Taiwan’s defence minister
Chiu was addressing a legislature session convened to review a NT$240 billion (US$8.6 billion) special budget to buy domestically produced weapons. The purchases require legislative approval and would be on top of planned military spending of NT$471.7 billion for next year.
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