‘China capable of mounting 'full-scale' invasion by 2025’: Taiwan defence minister
Speaking to the China Times on Wednesday, Chiu said China was capable now, but would be completely prepared to launch an invasion in three years.
FollowWith Beijing ramping up its military might in recent years, Taiwan's defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng has warned that China will be capable of mounting a "full-scale" invasion of the island by 2025, describing current tensions as the worst in 40 years.
Speaking to the China Times on Wednesday, Chiu said China was capable now, but would be completely prepared to launch an invasion in three years.
“By 2025, China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration,” he said.
He noted that there was an added risk of “misfire” across the sensitive Taiwan Strait; and that while China already has the required arsenal to take Taiwan by force, the cost of a “full scale” war for Beijing might be at its lowest by 2025, when a potential invasion seems likely.
Also read: US condemns China’s ‘provocative’ aircraft sorties in Taiwan
“For me as a military man, the urgency is right in front of me,” news agency Reuters quoted the Taiwan defence minister as saying at parliament. “By 2025, China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration.”
The day China marked a key patriotic holiday, in a record escalation of its grey zone military activity directed towards the island, Beijing sent about 150 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence zone over four days beginning on Friday.
These were said to be the biggest incursions by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) since Taipei began publicly reporting such activities last year.
The United States expressing its concerns over China`s activity near Taiwan, condemned Beijing for “provocative” and “destabilising” military activity after nearly 100 fighter jets and bombers went into Taiwan’s air defence zone over three consecutive days.
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