If war broke out over the Taiwan Strait, the primary task of the US military would be to sink Chinese ships to prevent a Chinese blockade, US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Commander Kenneth Wilsbach said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, Wilsbach said he arrived at this conclusion following Beijing’s reaction to the visit of then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August last year.
“You saw when speaker Pelosi went to Taiwan, what [China] did with their ships,” the US Air Force general said. “They put them on the east side of Taiwan — the side opposite China — as a sort of blockade.”
Photo: Screen grab from Pacific Air Forces’ Twitter Page
The surface-to-air missiles onboard the Chinese ships will create an anti-access/area denial zone for the People’s Liberation Army, Wilsbach said.
This zone will deter enemies due to the risk of being shot down, Wilsbach said.
While the US government prioritizes deterrence, in the event that war breaks out, “we’ve got to sink the ships,” he said.
“Sinking ships is a main objective of not only PACAF, but really anyone that’s going to be involved in a conflict like this,” he added.
The US and its international military partners have stepped up planning and training in preparation for potential conflict, Wilsbach said, adding that his crew frequently practiced the US Air Force’s strategy of dispersing crew and aircraft across many islands.
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