Pentagon sees no indication of China intending to attack Taiwan
Kirby slams remarks of Gen. Mark Milley that China wants the ability to "invade" Taiwan by 2027.
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Pentagon sees no indication of China intending to attack Taiwan
The United States sees no indication that China is planning to attack Taiwan, Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday.
"There is no indication that they intend to do that by that or any other date, just that they stated they want to have the capability," Kirby told a press briefing.
Kirby was asked to comment on remarks by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said that China wants the ability to "invade" Taiwan by 2027.
The US, along with many other countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and officially sticks to the "One China" policy. Nevertheless, Washington has kept informal relations with the island and is selling billions of dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan.
Read more: Taiwan, Ukraine different, US drawing misleading parallel: China
Last week, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told Sputnik that the US should stop selling weapons to Taiwan, as Beijing reserves the right to respond to any foreign meddling.
US must confront both Russia as acute threat, China as challenger: Defense official
The Biden administration is determined to confront Russia in Europe as an "acute threat to the international system" and simultaneously face off against China as its global pacing challenge in the Indo-Pacific theater, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said on Friday.
"Russia poses an acute threat to the international system, as illustrated by its ongoing war of choice and its brutal tactics. Our National Defense Strategy fully accounts for Russia’s threats in Europe and beyond," Hicks said in prepared remarks at the Ronald Reagan Institute.
However, Hicks also said that the United States simultaneously had to confront China as its main global strategic competitor.
"But even as we confront Russia’s aggression and malign activities, the strategy is clear that China is our military’s most-consequential strategic competitor and pacing challenge," Hicks said.
Therefore, the current US campaigning efforts would be focused on the Indo-Pacific and Europe, she added.
