Top Air Force Commander Gen. Michael A. Minihan warned today that the Chinese military was gearing up for a war in Taiwan. Minihan cited Chnese President Xi Jinping’s recent inauguration for his third six-year-term as Chinese President or strong man. Unlike, what President John F. Kennedy like to call the “soft societies of the West,” the Chinese Communists mean business when it comes to subjugating its population, brainwashing, mass incarcerations and liquidation for disobedience.. Kennedy knew well about the Maoist Revolution that massacred some 100 million Chinese before setting up their totalitarian state to run the world’s more populous country. In a dire warning to 80-year-old President Joe Biden, Minihan said prospects for a war with China over Taiwan has never been greater, with Biden making unprecedented threats against Beijing.
When 82-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Tawain with a House delegation Aug. 4, 2022, it sent Beijing into a frenzy. For weeks before Pelosi’s visit, Xi sent Chinese warships and fighter jets into the Taiwan Strait, sending a warning to Washington that its was crossing a red line. Pelosi ignored all warnings, letting the Republic of China know that the U.S. had its back. Biden confirmed Pelosi’s message Sept. 23, 2022 saying he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops in the event of an attempted Chinese Communist invasion of Taiwan. Biden violated 44-years of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act where former President Jimmy Carter capitulated to Beijing’s demands to stop diplomatic relations with Taipei. Carter’s Taiwan Relations Act ended the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1954, only five short years since the Maoist Revolution, Eisenhower knew the risks to Taiwan from Chinese Communists, giving Taipei an ironclad guarantee of U.S. military defense. Biden’s Sept. 23, 2022 statement that he’d defend Taiwan with U.S. troops infuriated Xi, leading to the deteriorated relations between Washington and Beijing. Minihan gave his gut feeling about the prospects for war with China over the next two years. Minihan has witnessed under Biden’s leadership a renewal of hostile relations between Washington and Beijing. When 60-year-old Secretary of State Anton Blinken and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan March 18, 2021, they accused Beijing of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China. Xi didn’t appreciate the accusations, leaving U.S.-Chinese relations at post Maoist Revolution low-point, increasing chances of conflict.
U.S. elected officials provoke Beijing by accusing Communist Chian of human rights abuses. Those same elected officials back the U.S. proxy against the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Biden’s anti-Communist combativeness has led to the sour relations that Minihan fears could lead to an invasion of Taiwan. Xi wants Biden to retract his Sept. 23, 2022 statement about defending Taiwan with U.S. troops because it violates the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. Whatever the reasons for Biden antagonism, it needs to stop before it’s too late. With Taiwan Semiconductor controlling the world’s biggest chip market, the U.S. would not allow a Chinese Communist talepver. If Chinese Communists controlled chip production it could shutdown the U.S. auto, airline and defesne industries. Tawian Semiconductior CEO C.C. Wei met with Pelosi on her Aug. 4, 2022 official visit to the democratic Island nation.
Beijing authorities accused Pelosi of provoking war with Communist China visiting Taipei. Xi would like peaceful reunification with Taiwan but knows the fierce independence of Taipei, knowing the history of Gen. Chaing Kai Shek leading Chinese nationalists to the Island of Formosa after Mao’s Communist Revolution. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told Pelosi that that Taiwan would never surrender to Beijing, regardless of all of Xi’s threats to takeover the island. Xi said he wants peaceful reunification with Taiwan, something Ing-wen rejects with conviciton. Xi continues to provoke Taiwan sending warships and fighter jets into Taiwan’s Defense Identification Zone. China continues to increase it defense budget from $114 billion in 2022 to $230 billion in 2023. China’s Peoples Liberation ]PLA] Army shows Taiwan that its ready to takeover the island at any time.
Minihan’s concern about a potential Chinese Communist invasion says more about how the Biden administration handles diplomatic relations with Beijing. Instead of provoking Beijing on alleged human rights abuses, Minihan thinks the U.S. should engage China in as many cooperative ventures as possible. Al long as the White House insults the Chinese Communist accusations of human rights abuses, Beijing will push back threatening to take over Taiwan. “From Beijing’s perspective, military deterrence is the only reliable way to prevent Taiwan [from] moving toward independence,” said Zhu Fang, executive dean of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University. Zhu would like to see the Biden administration stop provoking Beijing and work on a host of cooperative ventures. “They need to stop overplaying the Taiwan issue,” Zhu said, agreeing with Minihan about the prospect of war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in nation and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
