Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the Chinese military to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027, Adm. John Aquilino, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, said.
“President Xi Jinping (has tasked) his military to be prepared if tasked to execute in 2027,” Aquilino told representatives of Japanese and US media organizations, including The Asahi Shimbun, at the US Embassy in Tokyo on April 23. “That is a specific task by the president to his military forces.”
Aquilino added about the Chinese military, “When President Xi Jinping gives them a task, they will move out on it.”
In February 2023, William Burns, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, also referred to Xi making preparations for a military move against Taiwan by 2027.
China has announced that its defense budget for fiscal 2024 would increase by 7.2 percent over the previous year.
Regarding that increase, Aquilino said: “I don’t believe the advertised number. I think it’s drastically more than that.”
He also expressed concerns about Beijing’s moves because of “the buildup of military power despite a bad economy.”
Aquilino warned about the tighter cooperation in military matters between not only China and Russia but also North Korea.
“The increased military activities that (China and Russia have) been doing together is concerning in the Indo-Pacific,” Aquilino said. “The linkage of authoritarian nations to change the world order should be concerning to all those with common values, specifically freedom, rules-based order and a rule of law.”
Aquilino welcomed the agreement made in Washington on April 10 between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden for increased coordination in command-and-control functions between the Self-Defense Forces and the US military.
“The integration of our two nations militarily to the next step is absolutely the right path,” Aquilino said.
He will be succeeded by Adm. Samuel Paparo in early May.
