Highly confident of America's military power, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that the United States would easily defeat China if the communist nation began a war with Taiwan.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the nation's highest-ranking military officer and the principal military advisor to the president, secretary of defense and National Security Council, said that the military is now stockpiling weapons, ammunition and other supplies in the Asia Pacific to prepare for war. He said a conflict with China is neither imminent nor inevitable, but that the U.S. military must be ready if war breaks out.
"The more we can show that we can get there fast, [the] greater [the] deterrence," he said.
When asked at the Aspen Security Forum about the possibility of taking down China in a war, Brown said: "Yes, I am fully confident in our force. We are the most lethal, most respected combat force in the world."
He also agreed that the current state of warfare has changed with advanced technology. A war with China, he said, will not be similar to any conflicts of the past 30 years or more. "These will be major conflicts akin to what we saw in World War II and so we've got to come to grips with that," he said. "Two, the PRC knows where our advantages are and the combat capability we can bring to bear. My sense is they'll want to go quick so they can do it before we can bring capability there."
President Joe Biden's administration publicly expressed that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to use its military to attempt to take over Taiwan. Meanwhile, Beijing has vowed to take control of the island that it claims as its territory.
The top brass official warned that Taiwan is restructuring its military defenses which will "make them a much tougher target and much more challenging" for the Chinese military in attempting an assault. U.S. and allied military forces are working to improve their skills so that American adversaries "never want to mess with us," the general said. "I mean, I play to win, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure it's an unfair fight. That's my focus and so we've got to stay nimble on this kind of look long."
Meanwhile, a recent think tank simulation studying the conflict between U.S. and China forces over Taiwan found the U.S. defeated China in combat but at a heftier price tag. The Center for Strategic and International Studies exercise projected that U.S. and allied forces lost tens of thousands of troops, dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft in the war.
Blinken, Chinese counterpart discuss Beijing's provocative drills near Taiwan
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently met with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on July 27 to talk about China's "provocative" military drills around the self-ruled island of Taiwan as well as China's support for Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, while both were in Laos attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Summit.
Blinken and Wang agreed to keep making progress on their countries' military-to-military ties, but did not discuss nuclear arms control talks, which China has halted in protest over Washington providing arms to Taiwan, the official said. (
"In every discussion, Taiwan is the issue that they care most about. They see it as … an internal China issue," said the official, who briefed reporters traveling with Blinken.
Blinken, who earlier called out China for escalating maritime tensions with the Philippines, talked about its actions toward the democratically governed island, which include a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, the official added.
As per the reports, the two dignitaries talked for one hour and 20 minutes during their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken visited Beijing in a sign of improvement in strained relations between the world's two biggest economies. The two did not set a date for their next meeting, the official said.
Blinken is touring East Asia in a bid to reassure countries close to China of U.S. commitment, despite political uncertainty at home. He then went to Vietnam later on Saturday and held security talks alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Japan and the Philippines.
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