US Officials Warn of New ‘Axis of Evil’ With China at the Fore
Voice of AmericaMar 20
US Admiral: China Ready to Invade Taiwan by 2027
The Facts
Admiral John Aquilino, the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Wednesday warned that China could be ready to invade Taiwan to unite the self-governing island with the mainland by 2027.
In prepared testimony to the US House Armed Services Committee, Aquilino claimed that "all indications" point to the Chinese military meeting President Xi Jinping’s alleged preferred timeline to annex Taiwan.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This is the latest reminder that Beijing is serious about annexing Taiwan by military force if necessary. Furthermore, the deepening ties between China and the authoritarian regimes in the region are clear evidence that developments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are increasingly intertwined. To protect the rules-based international order, the US and its allies must prepare militarily for this rising threat.
Establishment-critical narrative
The US alarmism is baseless and only serves to maintain the Chinese threat narrative and distract from America's hostile foreign policy and its military build-up in Taiwan. Washington's militaristic zero-sum mentality also extends to countries that pose no threat to the world but rattle Washington's crumbling hegemony. The US must abandon its irrational path, adhere to the one-China principle, and stop meddling in China's internal affairs.
Nerd narrative
There's a 61% chance that the US will react with military force if China invades Taiwan before Jan. 1, 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.