September 20, 2021
3 mins read

Former Indo-Pacific commander Davidson warns about risk to Taiwan

During his congressional testimony earlier this year, Davidson said, “I think the threat is manifest during this decade — in fact, in the next six years.”..reports Asian Lite News

Former Indo-Pacific commander Philip Davidson said that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s potential 2027 transition poses threat to Taiwan.

Mikio Sugeno and Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, writing in Nikkei Asia said that Davidson sent shock waves around the world when he nailed down a specific time frame on a possible Taiwan contingency.

During his congressional testimony earlier this year, Davidson said, “I think the threat is manifest during this decade — in fact, in the next six years.”

Davidson, at the time commanding the US Indo-Pacific Command, was asked by a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in March about a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Pic credits Twitter @iingwen

In an interview with Nikkei Asia on Tuesday, Davidson said that he was conscious of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s leadership terms when calculating the timeline.

Xi is widely expected to stay in power beyond the next quinquennial national congress of the Communist Party in the autumn of 2022. But when the party convenes again five years later, in 2027, there could be a transition, Davidson said, which may impact the decision to move to Taiwan.

Regarding the question on the threat in the Taiwan Strait that could materialize in the next six years, he said, “What it means, explicitly, is that the changes in the [People’s Liberation Army]’s capabilities, with their missile and cyber forces, and their ability to train, advance their joint interoperability and their combat support logistics, all those trend lines indicate to me that within the next six years they will have the capability and the capacity to forcibly reunify with Taiwan, should they choose force to do it.”

China is pursuing an all-of-party approach that seeks to coerce, corrupt and co-opt the international community in a way in which they may be able to achieve their geopolitical edge, in what some describe as “the hybrid zone” or “the grey zone” or the “three warfares,” or “lawfare,” any of those things, to force Taiwan to capitulate because of extreme, diplomatic, economic, pressure and strain.

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) (Xinhua_Cheng Min_IANS)

Answering on PLA’s capability, he said that Chinese capability is improving and they are closing the gap with the United States and Japanese forces.

“They are closing that gap with training, by establishing joint command and control structures, and by working the combat support logistics that are necessary there. They’re also advancing their capability sets. That’s principal air, sea, cyberspaces, rocket forces, space forces principally. They did take some risk in their land forces in order to find the funds to advance those capabilities, and they are investing heavily there,” said Davidson.

However, he said that at the moment, US and Japanese forces were in the lead.

Referring to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin order on global posture review to deal with the current challenges, primarily China, Davidson said, “The last three administrations have made it quite clear that the Indo-Pacific theatre is to be the priority theatre going forward. United States needs a more expeditionary posture external to Japan, throughout the Indo-Pacific region, that could help deter peacetime and the day-to-day posture, as well as having places to go in a crisis, to help dissuade PLA adventurism.”

“To be frank, the posture required in the Indo-Pacific needs to be — the expeditionary posture especially — much more robust,” he added.

ALSO READ: Macron to hold call with President Biden

Previous Story

Macron to hold call with President Biden

Next Story

Expo 2020 Dubai to draft roadmap for world’s future

Latest from -Top News

India, UK Cement Strategic Ties

Oliver Robbins met Vikram Misri in New Delhi for UK–India talks reviewing their strategic partnership….reports Asian Lite News Oliver Robbins, Permanent Under-Secretary at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), met

India, Malaysia Stand Together on Terror

The Speaker reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to peace and thanked the Indian delegation for the briefing on India’s approach to dealing with terrorism at large…reports Asian Lite News An all-party Indian delegation met

Don’t Let Bailout Back Terror, Tharoor Warns IMF

Tharoor expressed his displeasure at the International Monetary Fund for enabling Pakistan thus as they divert those funds to arm themselves to attack India….reports Asian Lite News All-Party Delegation leader and Congress

India Doubles Down on BRICS at Brazil Talks

The BRICS Communications Ministers met in Brasilia under the Chair of Brazil on June 2, and conducted discussions on universal and meaningful connectivity…reports Asian Lite News India reiterated its commitment to enduring
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Blinken to visit China next month

The trip will also test whether the meeting between the

Biden given honorary Korean name of ‘Bae Ji-sung’

The name was presented to Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to