WASHINGTON: Senior Pentagon officials told Congress on Tuesday( Sep 19 ) that a Chinese blockade on Taiwan would be” monster risk” for Beijing and would probably fail, in contrast to the extreme difficulty of waging war.
Officials in Washington, a crucial supporter of Taipei, have cited 2027 as potential dates for an invasion. Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its place and has vowed to capture it one time.
The growing concerns stem from China’s increased military pressure on Taiwan, which include holding large-scale wargames that simulate a siege on the island, conducting near-daily warplane incursions, and sending Taiwanese ships around its waters.
A blockade did become” a monster danger for the PRC( People’s Republic of China ),” according to Ely Ratner, assistant defense secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs at the Pentagon. He was referring to China by its formal name.
Ratner told the House Armed Services Committee that it was unlikely to be successful and that the PRC would have to decide whether or not to eventually begin attacking business sea vessels.
According to him, a blockade would be disastrous for the global community and did likely elicit the broad-based, strong response from the global community that Beijing would probably be attempting to avoid.
Vice Director of the Joint Staff and Army Major General Joseph McGee agreed with him.
” It is an option, but it’s not a very likely military option ,” the author writes. According to McGee, discussing a siege is much simpler than really carrying it out.