Michael McCall, the new chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the US House of Representatives, says a conflict with China over Taiwan could happen in 2025.
A senior Republican in the US Congress says the chances of a conflict with China over Taiwan are “very high” after a US general sparked consternation with a memo suggesting war would start in two years.
In a memo dated Feb. 1 but released Friday, General Mike Minihan, who heads Air Mobility Command, wrote to the leadership of its approximately 110,000 members: “My intuition tells me we will be fighting in 2025.”
Michael McCall, the new chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News on Sunday: “I hope he’s wrong… Although I think he’s right.”
General Minihan’s views do not represent the interests of the Pentagon, but express the concern of the highest echelons of the US military about a possible Chinese attempt to establish control over Taiwan, which Beijing claims to be its territory.
Both the US and Taiwan will hold presidential elections in 2024, potentially creating an opportunity for China to take military action, Minihan writes.
If China fails to bloodlessly take control of Taiwan, “in my opinion, they will consider the possibility of a military invasion. We have to be ready for this,” McCall said.
He accused the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden of showing weakness after the failed withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which could make war with China more likely.
“The chance that we may see conflict with China, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific is very high,” McCall said.
The White House declined to comment on McCall’s remarks.
‘Very unlikely’
Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he disagreed with Minihan’s assessment.
Smith told Fox News on Sunday that a war with China is “not only not inevitable, but extremely unlikely. We have a very dangerous situation in China. But I think the generals need to be very careful when they say we’re going to war, it’s inevitable.”
The United States should be able to keep China from taking military action against Taiwan, “but I have every confidence that we can avoid this conflict if we take the right approach,” Smith said.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he seriously doubted that increased Chinese military activity near the Taiwan Strait was a sign of Beijing’s imminent invasion of the island.
On Saturday, a Pentagon spokesman said the general’s comments “do not reflect the department’s view of China.”
