The Biden administration has concluded that China is “flirting with the idea of taking control of Taiwan as President Xi Jinping is more willing to take risks to boost his legacy,” the Financial Times reports.
Why it’s important: An invasion of Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing, would force the U.S. to decide whether to go to war with China to defend an implicit ally.
- The recent conclusion by the Biden administration is based on Chinese behavior over the past two months, a senior US official told FT.
- After a show of strength by Chinese bombers in front of Taiwan just after President Biden took office, the State Department said, “We urge Beijing to stop its military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan.”
Adm. Joan Aquilino, The candidate to head U.S. forces in the Pacific warned the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that the threat in Taiwan “is much closer to us than most think,” CNN reported.
Adm. Philip Davidson, the current head of the Indo-Pacific Command of the United States, stated earlier this month that the Chinese military is building offensive capability, making the threat to Taiwan “manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years “.