Senior Military General Predicts War With China By 2025
The Biden administration’s recent decision to deliver 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine has led a number of critics to worry that the U.S. could be headed for a direct war with Russia.
In fact, President Joe Biden himself warned last year that providing Ukrainian forces with offensive weapons in its battle against invading Russian troops would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
“The idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment, and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews — just understand,” he said in March. “Don’t kid yourself. No matter what you all say, that’s called World War III, OK? Let’s get it straight here, guys.”
While it remains to be seen whether the Russia-Ukraine dispute will escalate or ultimately be resolved, one top U.S. Air Force officer sees another dire threat to world peace.
According to Air Mobility Command head Gen. Mike Minihan, Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to use the upcoming U.S. presidential elections as a distraction during which he can send troops into Taiwan, a nation that China claims as its territory. Taiwan will also hold its presidential election next year.
“I hope I am wrong,” Minihan wrote in a recent memo. “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.
In preparation of such a scenario, he called on the nearly 50,000 airmen in his command to begin establishing “a fortified, ready, integrated, and agile Joint Force Maneuver Team ready to fight and win inside the first island chain.”
Minihan is also focused on ensuring the service members he is responsible for commanding are trained to “fire a clip into a 7-meter target” with the “full understanding that unrepentant lethality matters most.”
His memo instructed subordinates to deliver a detailed report of preparations for a potential war with China to his office by the end of next month.
Emphasizing the importance of deliberate and extensive military drills, the four-star general advised: “If you are comfortable in your approach to training, then you are not taking enough risk.”
His urgent call presents a stark contrast to the caution urged by other military leaders, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Earlier this month, Austin was asked about the likelihood of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and replied: “What we’re seeing recently is some very provocative behavior on the part of China’s forces and their attempt to re-establish a new normal.”
As one Pentagon source said of Minihan’s rhetoric, the memo is “not representative of the department’s view on China.”
