Former Veterans Affairs secretary and defense undersecretary Robert Wilkie has nailed what we should all know and not just suspect.
“Xi Jinping is telling the West exactly what he wants to do to Taiwan, wrote Wilkie. “He has already wrecked Hong Kong’s democratic autonomy. He has threatened Australia, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam while militarizing the South China Sea.”
No matter what else China has done in the region, the crown jewel is Taiwan.
Taiwan stands out as a democratically governed oasis, and for that China cannot let it continue.
China’s push to superiority does not stop at economics. China wants to control it in much the same way Adolf Hitler wanted dominance in Europe.
Think of Taiwan as one would think of Poland in 1939. The only difference is Hitler lied to the world and hid his intention to act until he commenced military operations. China is showing us now.
China is addressing the full spectrum of international activities.
Its diplomatic actions, such as working with the new regime in Afghanistan to grab rare earths is but one example.
Stealing intellectual property, long a staple of the Chinese, still yields the occasional capture and conviction in U.S. courts of agents.
The Justice Department announced the conviction of “Yanjun Xu (who) conspired to commit economic espionage on behalf of the Chinese government, and he tried to steal the valuable innovation and trade secrets of industry-leading American aviation technology companies.”
Stealing economic information is but one of many avenues China is using in the information realm.
More ominous ventures into military advancements have gained shocking notice.
A recent test of a hypersonic missile that circled the globe, and could deploy multiple nuclear warheads, shows an apparently advanced research and development program.
According to outgoing Vice Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. John Hyten “The pace (at which China is) moving (militarily) and the trajectory they’re on will surpass Russia and the United States if we don’t do something to change it. It will happen. So I think we have to do something.”
The latest Department of Defense annual “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2021” lists “(a) key revelation… (that) China’s advancements in its nuclear capability, including that the accelerated pace of their nuclear expansion may enable China to have up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027.”
Another sign of advancement noted in the report is it reveals China may have already established a nuclear triad, which includes the ability to launch such missiles from the air, ground, and sea.
What nation is in focus for Chinese military leaders?
According to recent reports, the Chinese military built full-scale targets of U.S. warships – including an aircraft carrier — in the middle of a desert in Northwest China known for ballistic missile testing.
Perhaps as a sign of things to come, the Chinese may be getting its people ready for action.
“A seemingly innocuous government recommendation,” wrote Associated Press reporter Ken Moritsugu, “for Chinese people to store necessities for an emergency quickly sparked scattered instances of panic-buying and online speculation.” As he noted, “most analysts” do not see hostilities as “imminent.” There is some mysterious reason behind it.
In the Chinese-controlled Global Times, a recent editorial proclaimed, “We need to make the U.S. aware that no matter what threats it poses or forces it uses, China’s reunification will eventually happen. Setting stumbling blocks to reunification across the Straits would mean a fundamental confrontation.’
This aligns with China’s stated goals of its “Great Rejuvenation.”
In the Department of Defense report, it is clear China’s “strategy aims to achieve ‘the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ by 2049 to match or surpass U.S. global influence and power, displace U.S. alliances and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, and revise the international order to be more advantageous to Beijing’s authoritarian system.”
Again from Wilkie, “Taiwan is the key. To the Chinese Communist Party, an independent, democratic Taiwan represents a century of humiliation. Gaining control of Taiwan is also the key to establishing Beijing’s hegemony over the most vital areas of the Pacific.”
It makes sense to view China’s actions as being sinister. We do not have to guess or surmise any longer. China has us in its sites and pulling the trigger on Taiwan is not far off.
