US claims China, Russia militaries working together to likely invade Taiwan
- In Reports
- 09:12 PM, May 04, 2024
- Myind Staff
US intelligence officials have assessed that Russia and China are strengthening their collaboration on military matters, including the possibility of a joint invasion of Taiwan. This assessment has prompted new planning efforts across the US government to address the potential scenario where these two countries engage in coordinated military actions.
“We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Thursday in testimony to Congress.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota asked Haines about the potential scenario of Russia and China coordinating a military invasion, particularly in relation to Taiwan.He also asked the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency about the Pentagon’s planning for such a possibility.
The Defense Department has “become even more concerned about our joint force requirements in an environment where” Russia and China “would certainly be cooperative, and we need to take that into account,” Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse responded.
Rounds said that the “the bottom line is that, basically, if we were to have a conflict with one, chances are that we would have a second front,” affecting planning, equipment and manpower needs.
“Certainly it’s a possibility,” Haines said. “The question of just how likely it is, I think differs depending on the scenario.”
Haines added that intelligence assessments indicate there is “increasing cooperation in the ‘no-limits’ partnership” between Russia and China “across really every sector of society: political, economic, military, technological and so on.”
China claims democratic Taiwan as its territory, though the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Beijing has never ruled there, and vows to someday bring it into the fold—through force if necessary.
Though Washington switched official relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the U.S. maintains friendly ties with Taiwan and is the self-ruled island's greatest weapons supplier.
Since 2022, Russia and China have conducted multiple joint military exercises, including one last year in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. In March, Chinese and Russian warships participated in exercises in the Gulf of Oman alongside Iran. China's defense ministry saying the drills were to meant to "jointly maintaining regional maritime security."
Despite China's denial of providing Russia with lethal weaponry, Ukrainian researchers have claimed that Chinese companies are the primary source of drones and related components used by Russian forces involved in the invasion.
Image source: AFP
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