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The senior US general claims that while a Chinese attack on Taiwan is not imminent, the US is nonetheless "very attentively" observing.
According to Gen. Mark Milley in a BBC interview, China is obviously building the potential to attack at some point, but doing so would be a political decision.
According to China, Taiwan is a separatist province that has to be united with the mainland, maybe via force.
It has declared that it will "resolutely demolish" any attempt to back Taiwan's independence and has accused the US of doing so.
China and the US, Taiwan's most important ally, have recently increased tension noticeably.
While the US has dispatched navy ships into Taiwan's waters, China has been launching dozens of airplanes into Taiwan's air defense zone.
US President Joe Biden claimed in May that China's close flying of jets over Taiwan put it "flirting with danger."
If the island was attacked, he swore he would defend it with force.
In response, Beijing stated that it "would not hesitate to battle" to stop Taiwan from formally declaring independence, accusing the US of "violating its commitment on Taiwan" and "interfering" in China's internal affairs.
Asked whether he thought China would attack Taiwan, Gen Milley, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said: “Could, should, would, those are key words there.
“In terms of capability I think China clearly is developing a capability. President Xi [Jinping] has mentioned that in public forums, he’s mentioned it in speeches, that he has challenged the PLA [China’s People’s Liberation Army] to develop the capability to attack Taiwan at some point in time.
“And whether they would or not, it’s a political choice, it’s a policy choice, that will be based off of how the Chinese view the cost risk benefit at the time.”
“There’s no indications or warnings of anything imminent at this time. But again, we watch it very, very closely,” Gen Milley added.
The US has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but sells arms to it as part of its Taiwan Relations Act, which states that the US must provide the island with the means to defend itself.
At the same time, it maintains formal ties with China and also diplomatically acknowledges China’s position that there is only one Chinese government.
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