A former US defense official yesterday called on Taiwan, the US and their allies to be prepared for “a moment in the late 2020s” when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might launch military operations against Taiwan.
Speaking virtually at a security conference in Taipei, Michele Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy under former US president Barack Obama, said that the Indo-Pacific region is facing the rise of a “more assertive China.”
It is “trying to change some of those rules of the international order and to assert its will, as its economic and military power grows,” Flournoy said.
Photo: CNA
Increasing tensions between the US and China in the past few years were not because of a change in Washington’s policy, but a leadership change in the Chinese Communist Party from former Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in 2012, she said.
Under Hu and his predecessors, “China was very much internally focused on its own economic development, on bringing elements of its population out of poverty into the middle class, building its own economy,” she said.
However, with the arrival of Xi, China “dropped the mask or the veil” and “started to really flex its muscles economically, taking coercive measures against other countries militarily, building up its military,” she said.
Denial and deterrence are critical to preventing a potential US-China military conflict over Taiwan, she said.
Denial means convincing Xi that “he can’t be successful using military force to achieve his objectives,” while deterrence through cost and position means that “even if he could succeed, it would be at such great cost that it would be a Pyrrhic victory,” she said.
Xi is focused on economic and political coercion to shrink Taiwan’s international space and pressure it to change its posture, she said.
Xi has also instructed the PLA to continue its buildup to give him military options against Taiwan by 2027, she said.
“And so I believe we, the United States, our allies, Taiwan, the international community, we collectively need to be ready for a moment in the late [20]20s when deterrence may be tested,” Flournoy said. “And we need to be prepared for that and to be confident that President Xi, if he does test the waters of using force, that he will conclude that it’s too risky and too costly and he cannot succeed.”
Despite China’s military posture, Washington still needs to engage with Beijing due to shared interests and challenges and to reduce current level of tensions to stabilize the situation, she said.
Xi’s planned visit to the US for the APEC summit in San Francisco later this month to meet with US President Joe Biden could be a good start, she said.
“I don’t expect there to be any major policy changes on either side. I don’t expect more than somewhat symbolic deliverables, but I do think increasing dialogue, whether it’s restarting military-to-military dialogue or dialogue on arms control, on other issues, I think that’s very, very important,” she said.
Flournoy’s comments were made during a speech at this year’s Taipei Security Dialogue, organized by the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research think tank.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS