Commentary
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is talking about war again. On Nov. 9, he called on his military to train for a “new era” and prepare for military conflict over “increased instability and uncertainty.” That brave new world could come sooner than most realize and at the point of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) bayonet. Since Hong Kong and chunks of India and the South China Sea have already fallen, the most likely next target is Taiwan.
U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said an attack on the island democracy could come anytime.
“I don’t think in the next couple of years they’re likely to invade Taiwan. But you never know,” he said on Nov. 4. Xi “has certainly given his military the charge to have that capability by the end of this decade and probably by 2027.”…