Putting Taiwan at risk
GOP big implores Biden: Send arms
President Biden is inviting a Chinese invasion of US ally Taiwan by failing to deliver promised weapons there to deter war, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday.
“I would hope the administration would wake up and start getting these weapons [to Taiwan],” Texas GOP Rep. Michael McCaul said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo.
“I see no deterrence from this administration.”
McCaul likened the China-Taiwan situation to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and the appeasement of Hitler before World War II.
The lawmaker warned a blockade would be damaging for the US and world economy, noting some of America’s largest tech firms rely on Taiwan for 90% of their semiconductor chips — and that China would control the supply.
“We would be in a world of hurt, and China would be the most dominant economic and military force on the planet,” he said.
Spying on America
US relations with Beijing went into a deep chill after China flew spy balloons in American airspace.
Classified documents allegedly leaked by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira further reveal US intelligence officials were aware of as many as four other Chinese spy balloons apart from the one that floated across the US earlier this year.
McCaul said under current conditions, Taiwan is at the mercy of China — and fretted a blockade and invasion could occur as early as next year if the communist giant doesn’t succeed in getting a puppet elected as president of the pro-West island.
The lawmaker just visited Taiwan and the region, including Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, China flew planes over Taiwan and put ships in the Taiwan Strait as saber-rattling exercises — and sanctioned him for not acknowledging its sovereignty over Taipei.
“They have a ways to go,” McCaul said of Taiwan’s preparedness. “They need the weapons we promised them.”
McCaul said nearly two dozen weapons have been approved for Taiwan over the past five years, and that surveillance technology is crucial for it to anticipate China’s moves. He has also called for closer ties.
“We have no deterrent — just like Ukraine,” he said.
He said a Chinese blockade and invasion of Taiwan is possible as early as next year if Xi Jinping doesn’t get a favored candidate elected president of Taiwan.
“Xi will go to Plan B and either do a blockade or military invasion of the island,” McCaul warned.
The White House had no immediate response to McCaul’s criticism.