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
“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.
“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.”
“Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese,” Xi said.
“We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary.”
Tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan reached a critical point in August, when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, prompting Beijing to start a round of unprecedented military exercises that all but surrounded the island.
More broadly, Gilday said that he was prioritising a “fight tonight” posture for the US Navy over any efforts to expand the size of his fleet, in response to “what we’re seeing from an increasingly aggressive China and Russia”.
Gilday also cited his meeting with the Chief of Staff of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force Admiral Sakai Ryo during the 13th Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium, hosted by the Italian Navy earlier this month, as further evidence of deepening cooperation.
The event is held every two years, drawing participants from more than 50 nations to discuss the latest developments in confronting maritime challenges, but this year’s edition was the first to feature a Japanese participant of Ryo’s rank.
“There’s little if anything that we do on a day-to-day basis that we’re not doing in concert with our allies and partners,” Gilday said. “Those relationships are absolutely critical.
“They’re relationships that the Chinese or the Russians don’t enjoy in the same numbers that we do,” he added. “We see it as an asymmetric advantage.”