The fitting in Ukraine have made the window for a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan ‘highly unpredictable,’ the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, Admiral Samuel Paparo, has warned.
During a roundtable with journalists from Indo-Pacific countries in Washington on Monday, Paparo was asked if he thought that the conflict in Ukraine and the draconian international sanctions slapped on Russia over it somehow affected Beijing’s plans to bring Taiwan back under its control.
“China is undoubtedly watching what’s happened in Ukraine, taking notes, and learning from it … And they’ll improve their capabilities based on what they learn at this time,” he replied.
But because of all this, “the window of a potential unification by force [between mainland China and Taiwan] is highly, highly unpredictable,” Paparo pointed out.
The admiral basically downplayed last year’s assessment by then Indo-Pacific Command head Philip Davidson, who claimed that a Chinese attack on the self-governed island could happen “in the next six years.” The prediction by Davidson was “actually based on open source speeches” made by the Chinese leadership, Paparo insisted.