Taiwanese Defense Minister says China may be ready to stage ‘full-scale’ invasion of island by 2025

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“In terms of organizing an attack on Taiwan, they currently have the capacity. [China] must pay the price, “Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told Taiwanese reporters on Wednesday.

But he said that by 2025 that price will be lower – and China will be able to mount a “full-scale” invasion.

Chiu’s comments came after China sent 150 fighter jets, including nuclear-capable fighter jets and bombers, to Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) since October 1.

In a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, Chiu described the military tensions between the two sides of the strait as “the most serious” in more than 40 years since he joined the army, the official news agency reported. Taiwan (CNA).

At the meeting, the Taiwanese military submitted a report to lawmakers claiming that China’s anti-intervention and blockade capabilities around the Taiwan Strait will mature by 2025, according to CNA.

Lawmakers also considered a special defense budget of $ 8.6 billion for homemade weapons, including missiles and warships.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry released this undated file photo of a Chinese J-16 fighter jet when it announced that PLA planes had entered their air defense identification area.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chiu noted that Taiwan had taken no action to provoke an attack in response to Chinese air incursions.

“We will make military preparations,” he said. “I think our army is like that – if we have to fight, we will be on the front lines.”

Taiwan and mainland China have been ruled separately since a civil war ended more than seven decades ago, in which defeated nationalists fled to Taipei. However, Beijing sees Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory, even though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the democratic island of about 24 million people.

Beijing has refused to exclude military force to capture Taiwan if necessary, and accuses what it calls “collusion” between Taiwan and the United States of being at the origin of the rise in tensions between the two sides of the country. strait.

“The United States has taken negative steps by selling arms to Taiwan and strengthening official and military ties with Taiwan, including launching a $ 750 million plan to sell arms to Taiwan, disembarking “US military planes in Taiwan and the frequent navigation of US warships across the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet in Zurich to “exchange views on Sino-US relations and relevant issues.”

The ministry did not provide the date of the meeting. Chinese public broadcaster CCTV said the Chinese delegation arrived in Zurich on Tuesday.

CNN’s Beijing office contributed reporting.

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