China's military declares it is 'ready to fight' after drills near Taiwan
Fox News' Greg Palkot reports on Taiwan condemning China's military drills.
EXCLUSIVE – The chairman of the new House committee on China is warning that the "window of maximum danger" for Taiwan will open in January 2024, which is when Chinese President Xi Jinping will seriously consider a potential invasion of the self-governing island.
Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., is also warning that the Biden administration is not moving with an "appropriate sense of urgency to prevent World War III."
"Particularly starting with the Taiwanese election in January 2024, I think we’re going to be in the window of maximum danger," Gallagher told Fox News Digital. "And Xi Jinping has a lot of problems to deal with in the 2030s."
"I think he may calculate the best chance to secure his legacy is by making a move in the next five years,," Gallagher added.
CHINA CONDUCTS SECOND DAY OF MILITARY DRILLS AROUND TAIWAN, SIMULATES STRIKES ON THE ISLAND
Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher listens during a hearing of a special House committee dedicated to countering China, on Capitol Hill, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Lawmakers like Gallagher have warned that it's only a matter of time before China tries to invade Taiwan, and some say the 2024 U.S. presidential election may also have influence on the timing of China’s aggression toward Taiwan.
But he said he worries that Biden administration officials do not view Xi’s ambitions for Taiwan as "an imminent threat," and that they feel it is "unlikely" he will make a move for Taiwan in the coming years.
"More troubling is whether or not you think this is going to happen in five years, 10 years, or one year, we should be moving heaven and earth to prevent it, and make sure that it never happens," Gallagher said. "I have not seen that sense of urgency from the Biden administration over the last three years, and it’s very disappointing."
Gallagher spoke to Fox News Digital soon after his visit with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California last week., which was also attended by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
CHINA SAYS DRILLS AROUND TAIWAN ARE 'SERIOUS WARNING'
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shakes hands with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen after delivering statements to the press at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, April 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Gallagher said Taiwanese President Tsai discussed ways in which Taiwan plans to resist any efforts by Beijing to interfere in their election, and said they discussed the importance of "not being intimidated by the Chinese." Speeding up the delivery of military equipment to Taiwan was also discussed.
Those meetings prompted increased military exercises around the small self-governing island.
The Chinese military held three days of large-scale air and sea exercises it dubbed "Joint Sword" that began shortly after the meeting.
"I think they're throwing sort of a temper tantrum as they often do when members of Congress visit Taiwan are members of the administration because of Taiwan, certainly when Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan," Gallagher said.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., on March 1, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
China shut down communications with the United States military after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last summer. That visit prompted increased aggression by China in the South China Sea and led experts to predict a Chinese invasion of Taiwan by 2024.
China sent warnings to McCarthy and the lawmakers involved in the meetings with Tsai last week, alleging the gatherings violated the "One China" policy.
The "One China" policy, adopted by the U.S. and other countries, stipulates that the government of Beijing is the sole legitimate government of China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping discusses the country's economic and social development at a political gathering in Beijing. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
"I think all of this is just a further attempt to influence the thinking of the Taiwanese people and to inculcate fear in Taiwan as well as in America, and to get us to back down," Gallagher said. "And, again, it's important for us to remind ourselves and our friends in Taiwan that we're not the ones who are trying to invade a country and take over a democratic society, by force if necessary, that the CCP are the aggressors, and they're the ones who are saber-rattling," Gallagher said.
MCCARTHY’S CHINA MISSION: GIVE BIDEN A ‘BACKBONE,’ ‘EMPOWER’ HIM TO TACKLE THE CCP THREAT
Gallagher detailed China’s recent threats, which he said would be "a massive escalation of the situation" but also show China is "committed to reunifying Taiwan with the mainland."
"Sure, he’d prefer to do it without force, but he has repeatedly said he's willing to use force if necessary," Gallagher said. "And I think we discount that at our own risk."
Gallagher warned doing so is a "very naive view of the world."
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"If there is one thing we’ve learned from Ukraine, it is that when dictators tell you they are going to do something, even if it seems foreign to your western sensibilities, you shouldn’t ignore it," he said.
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