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US Navy should prepare for an invasion of Taiwan as soon as this year, fleet chief says
- US needs to plan for ‘a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window’ in which Beijing might force unification, Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of US naval operations, says
- Threats from China and Russia have created the need for a ‘fight tonight’ posture, Gilday adds
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A top US Navy official said on Wednesday that a mainland Chinese invasion of Taiwan could take place as soon as this year, based partly on comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a major political conference in Beijing this week.
Asked how the US Navy should respond to Xi’s warning at the 20th party congress about Taiwan separatism, Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of US naval operations, said: “It’s not just what President Xi says, but it’s how the Chinese behave and what they do.
“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,” he said in a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council.
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“So when we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window. I can’t rule it out.”
02:48
Mainland China military exercises continue around Taiwan beyond announced deadline
Mainland China military exercises continue around Taiwan beyond announced deadline
Gilday’s time frame is based on an assessment last year by Philip Davidson, the retired admiral who was then head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, that Beijing’s military might try to unify Taiwan with mainland China “within the next six years”.
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