Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said in a recent interview with military news website Defense One that the United States and China are not “on the brink of war” and that “Taiwan is very difficult to capture.”
Comprehensive foreign news reports on the 1st, Milley said that all walks of life need to calm down when the US and China start a war. He warned talk of an imminent U.S.-China war was “overheated” and said he was skeptical of China’s chances of “conquering” Taiwan. But he also pointed out that the United States should continue to accelerate the provision of Taiwan weapons and strengthen Taiwan’s military capabilities, just in case.
After the Chinese balloon incident this year, the China issue is heating up. Over the past two weeks, U.S. lawmakers have raised a range of concerns about China at hearings with Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, ranging from nuclear weapons to computer chips to China’s invasion of Taiwan and China’s alliance with Russia.
Milley has told U.S. lawmakers that war with China and Russia is not imminent or inevitable.
However, Milley also said he agrees that the United States should provide arms to Taiwan as soon as possible to avoid any attack by Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to reports, Xi Jinping has stated that he hopes that the People’s Liberation Army will prepare for war and prepare to invade Taiwan by force before 2027 if necessary.
Milley also mentioned: “So if you think about it, it’s only four years from now. So one of the elements of deterrence is making sure your enemy knows that the costs (of aggression) will outweigh the benefits. So my estimate is, for Taiwan, we have 3 or 4 years to prepare Taiwan so that they will convince Chinese policymakers that the costs outweigh the benefits.”
Milley said Taiwan needs air defense systems, anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-ship mines. But he also said that Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, itself has 170,000 standing troops and 1 to 2 million reservists, and China’s inexperience makes taking over the island a low possibility.
“It (Taiwan) favors the defenders. The island will be very difficult to take,” he said.
(Editor in charge: Yu Qing)
