The US’ top general yesterday said he doubts Beijing plans to try to take Taiwan militarily.
“I do think that Xi Jinping [習近平] doesn’t necessarily want to take Taiwan by force,” US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Brown Jr told reporters in Tokyo. “He will try to use other ways to do this.”
Brown added that the US wanted to serve as a “strong deterrent” to any potential move by China’s armed forces.
Photo: AFP
He called for monitoring things Xi “might do to put increasing pressure on Taiwan, whether it’s militarily, diplomatically, economically.”
Brown also said that he wrote to his Chinese counterpart, General Liu Zhenli (劉振立), to establish lines of communication, but had not yet interacted with him directly.
“If the opportunity presents itself, I will definitely engage,” Brown said.
It was unclear when Brown had sent the letter. He was confirmed as joint chiefs of staff chair in September.
Officials in Taipei have said they doubt China plans to invade soon, and after Russia attacked Ukraine early last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) played down concerns that a similar crisis could erupt in Asia.
Meanwhile, Taiwan is likely to be among the topics discussed when US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi gather for an expected meeting next week on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco.
The in-person talks would be the first between the leaders in a year.
Both nations have a reason to improve ties. China would like to focus on turning its economy around, while Biden is gearing up for a re-election campaign.
Speaking at a roundtable with reporters, Brown also said that the US has not shifted military assets out of East Asia since the Gaza crisis erupted on Oct. 7.
“All the capabilities we have here in the Indo-Pacific under the Indo-Pacific command, we have not touched that capability while we’re focused not only on what’s happening on Europe, but the same in the Middle East,” he said.
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