An Air Force general said in an internal memo that the U.S. and China risk going to war in two years and told officers under his command to prepare, including with target practice, NBC News reported.
Gen. Mike Minihan, head of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, said he has a gut feeling that the fight will happen in 2025, while saying he hopes he’s wrong, according to NBC. He said presidential elections in the U.S. and Taiwan in 2024 would create an opportunity for China to move against Taiwan.
NBC quoted a Defense Department official as saying the comments don’t represent the Pentagon’s view on China. An Air Mobility Command spokesperson told NBC that the memo is part of its effort to prepare for conflict if deterrence fails.
President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly expressed concern about China’s military buildup and what the U.S. views as a more aggressive Chinese stance toward Taiwan.
A national security strategy presented by the administration in October called China the only U.S. competitor “with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it.”
China has criticized the latest U.S. defense spending package, which permits up to $10 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan, for playing up the China threat and interfering in its internal affairs.
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