The top Republican in the US Congress says it is “highly likely” to clash with China over Taiwan after a US general caused consternation with a memo warning that war could happen in two years.
Gen. Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, wrote to leaders of the roughly 110,000 members in a memo released Friday.
“I hope he’s wrong … but I think he’s right,” Michael McCaul, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News on Sunday.
General Minihan’s comments do not represent the Pentagon, but reflect concerns at the highest levels of the US military about the possibility of China trying to dominate Taiwan.
Both the United States and Taiwan could hold presidential elections in 2024, creating an opportunity for China to take military action, Minihan wrote.
If China cannot rule Taiwan without bloodshed, McCall said, “China will, at my discretion, consider a military invasion. We have to be prepared for that.”
He accused the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden of predicting a possible weakening of the war with China after the failure of the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan.
“There’s a good chance we’re going to have a conflict with China or Taiwan or the Indo-Pacific,” McCall said.
