The new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Mike McCall, said on Sunday that the likelihood of a conflict with China over Taiwan was “very high”.
The comment comes after General Mike Minihan, who heads Airlift Command, warned in a memo that a US war with China is possible within the next two years.
In a note dated Feb. 1 but posted on Friday, Minihan said, “My intuition tells me we’ll be at war in 2025.”
“I hope he’s wrong… But I think he’s right,” McCall told Fox.
The general’s opinion does not reflect the Pentagon’s view, but shows concern at the highest levels of the US military about a possible Chinese attempt to take control of Taiwan.
The United States and Taiwan will hold presidential elections in 2024, potentially creating an opportunity for China to take military action, Minihan writes.
McCall said that if China fails to establish control over Taiwan through nonviolent means, “they will consider the possibility of a military invasion. We have to be ready for that.”
McCall accused the Joe Biden administration of projecting weakness after a failed troop withdrawal from Afghanistan could make war with China more likely.
“The likelihood of conflict with China (over) Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region is very high,” McCall said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month he seriously doubted China’s increased military activity near the Taiwan Strait was a sign of Beijing’s impending invasion of the island. .
On Saturday, a Pentagon spokesperson said the general’s comments “do not represent the Department of Defense’s view of China.”
