The Chinese regime is rapidly expanding its military and modernizing its weaponry. Taiwan and the United States could be caught flat-footed if they fail to recognize the urgency of the threat, analysts warn. China will have the ability to mount a full-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2025, according to Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng. He also called the rising tensions between China and Taiwan the most severe he has seen in 40 years. Retired Capt. James Fanell, former director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, agreed. The United States needs to be prepared for a conflict as tension escalates to “near out-of-control levels” between China and Taiwan, he told The Epoch Times. Fanell said the Chinese regime has become an “aggressor nation.” While some would argue they haven’t taken enough military action to be called an aggressor, he said, “the people that are supposed to …