TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A top congressional Republican said on Sunday (Jan. 29) he agreed with a statement the U.S. could go to war with China over Taiwan by 2025, while a top Democrat disagreed.
In a memo obtained by NBC News on Friday (Jan. 27), General Mike Minihan, head of the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command, said, “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.” Minihan speculated in the memo that because both Taiwan and the U.S. will have presidential elections in 2024, Washington will be “distracted,” giving Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a chance to move on Taiwan.
When asked about the memo during an interview on Fox News Sunday, Representative Michael McCaul, Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “I hope he’s wrong as well. I think he’s right, though, unfortunately,” according to Politico.
McCaul added that if China cannot take Taiwan without force, then “they are going to look at a military invasion in my judgment. We have to be prepared for this,” according to Reuters. McCaul also accused the Biden administration of “projecting weakness” globally and said the odds of war with China are “very high” because of it, according to NBC News.
However, later on Fox News Sunday, Democratic Representative Adam Smith, a ranking member of the House Armed Service Committee, disagreed with the prediction saying, “Anything is possible. I’m really worried when anyone starts talking about war with China being inevitable,” per Politico.
“I want to be completely clear. It’s not only not inevitable, it’s highly unlikely,” NBC News cited Smith as saying. “Generals need to be very cautious about saying we’re going to war.”
Smith said Washington needs to be in a position to deter Beijing from military action against Taiwan, “but I’m fully confident we can avoid that conflict if we take the right approach,” Reuters noted.
Meanwhile, a Pentagon official on Saturday (Jan. 28) said General Minihan’s comments were “not representative of the department’s view on China,” per Reuters.