From 19FortyFive.com: China is going to invade Taiwan very soon - at leasr that is what many experts think these days. The official Pentagon assessment on this matter indicates that Beijing will make a play for Taiwan in 2027. Many U.S. military leaders and experts, including myself, have expressed skepticism of that claim. They think that the official Pentagon assessment is too generous.
In fact, China might decide to invade Taiwan in the next year or so.
There is some circumstantial evidence indicating that Beijing was seriously considering attacking Taiwan last year. According to private intelligence firm Bellingcat, Chinese President Xi Jinping in December 2021 told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that China was planning to invade Taiwan in the fall of 2022.
Some analysts believe that Xi backed away from that timeline after witnessing the forceful Western reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nevertheless, for China, reclaiming Taiwan is as much of an existential ideological mission as it is a vital geopolitical one. After all, the Chinese civil war never fully ended. It was simply frozen when the losing side in that fight — the nationalists — managed to escape total destruction by seeking refuge 100 miles off China’s coast, in Taiwan.
Since that time, recapturing the tiny island has been an obsession of every Chinese leader. Xi Jinping, who fancies himself as the next Mao Zedong, believes he will be the Chinese ruler who completes this task.
The future belongs to the side that wants to win it more. While the United States has remained consistent in its support of Taiwan, Washington refuses to clarify its position on the matter. Yes, it sells weapons and provides support for Taiwan’s military. But, to what end?
