(FreedomBeacon.com)- Remember the days of the Trump administration when the prospects of China invading Taiwan or Russia invading Ukraine were completely off the table?
Well, times have changed, and the United States is now pushing for an “urgent” bolstering of Taiwanese defenses as China ramps up rhetoric and military intimidation of the island.
Ely Ratner, who serves as the assistant secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, spokes on Wednesday during a hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the very real threat of China invading the island. She told legislators that the Chinese Communist Party’s promise to “unify” Taiwan with China is a “real and dangerous” threat.
Ratner said that bolstering Taiwanese defenses has now become an “urgent task” and that the U.S. government has begun modernizing its capabilities and developing new operational concepts to help protect Taiwan from China.
US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner on Taiwan’s security:
“The China challenge is a today problem, a tomorrow problem, a 2027 problem, a 2030 problem, a 2040 problem and beyond.”https://t.co/5FWULbNBVy
— Will Glasgow (@wmdglasgow) December 10, 2021
The island, which has been self-governing since 1949, has been the focus of Chinese President Xi Jinping for many years. Now that President Joe Biden is in office, and with the recent revelation that more than a hundred new missile SILOs are being built in China, the idea of actually invading the island is becoming very real.
This year, the United States has taken steps to publicly side with Taiwan. Delegations of American legislators have met with Taiwanese officials, including during the Thanksgiving weekend, and President Joe Biden even invited the country’s leaders to a summit where they discussed matters relating to democracy and self-governance.
Taiwan has purchased billions of dollars of arms from the United States over the last ten years, and Ratner told the Senate hearing that there are no plans to stop selling weapons to the country. Now, Ratner said, ensuring that Taiwan can defend itself is an “absolute priority.”
If China does encroach into Taiwan, how well do you believe the U.S. military will respond with President Joe Biden in charge?
Will his family’s many business deals in China compromise his ability to take real action – and are all these threats just a front?
