• US Adm. John Aquilino said China’s military is building up at a rate not seen since World War II.
  • That puts it on the path to meeting its goal of being ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, he said.
  • Aquilino, the outgoing head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, urged Washington to accelerate military development.

China’s rapid military build-up is more expansive than anything seen since World War II, which means it’s on track with its 2027 goal to be ready for a Taiwan invasion, said US Navy Adm. John Aquilino.

“All indications point to the PLA meeting President Xi Jinping’s directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027,” Aquilino wrote in a testimony to the US Armed Services House Committee.

“Furthermore, the PLA’s actions indicate their ability to meet Xi’s preferred timeline to unify Taiwan with mainland China by force if directed,” added the admiral, the outgoing head of the US Indo-Pacific Command.

    • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Paradoxically, a large standing army will mean less likelihood of conflict. Deterrence works.

    • PRUSSIA_x86@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Would you rather the Chinese be allowed to have their way with the entirety of the Asia-Pacific region? Based on what we’ve seen in Hong Kong I don’t think that’s a good idea.

      • Aniki 🌱🌿
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        8 months ago

        China would be irrelevant without its purely manpower based economy.

    • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      The idea behind a massive build out of weapons is so nobody even dares to point a barrel in your direction.

      The downside is that everybody else will try to find a way to make those weapons irrelevant, like swarms of $1.000 drones bypassing million dollars air defenses.