New Delhi: The government of China may use its force to unite Taiwan in mainland country China, said Xi Jinping’s Top Advisor.
China has made it clear to the rest of the world that PLA’s aggressive posture vis-a-vis Taiwan will continue until it takes over the island. At least 39 Chinese warplanes flew toward Taiwan recently, making it the largest aerial intrusion into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) so far this year.
Jin Canrong, a professor in Renmin University’s School of International Studies said, “Once the National Congress of the Communist Party of China is over in the fall of 2022, the scenario of armed unification will move toward becoming a reality. It is very likely that the leadership will move toward armed unification by 2027, the 100th anniversary of the PLA’s founding.”
Jin asserted that China already has the power to unify Taiwan by force within one week and that the PLA can overwhelm any US force within 1,000 nautical miles of the shoreline. The PLA is believed to have devised a strategy to keep US naval warships out of Chinese waterways.
Japan has openly supported Taiwan in face of Chinese aggression. It was recently reported that the Japanese and US militaries have created a draft plan for coordinated action in the event of a Chinese invasion of the island.
Tokyo had earlier indicated that it would explore options and prepare for “various scenarios” while reiterating close US ties. Then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even said, “A Taiwan emergency is a Japan emergency”.
Countering this notion, Jin said, “Japan should not intervene in a Taiwanese emergency.” He further said that “the United States is already unable to defeat China. In the event that Japan intervenes, China will be forced to defeat Japan as well. Japan must recognize that a new transition is taking place.”
(_Vinayak)