“There are no indications or warnings of anything imminent at this time,” said General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. “But again, we’re watching it very, very closely.” He said a decision to attack by Beijing would be a “political” and political choice and based on China’s view of “cost-risk-benefit at the time”, as he acknowledged President Xi Jinping’s repeated threats to retake the island by force if necessary. The statement comes amid growing concern among Taiwanese that China will invade the self-ruled island, prompting locals to undergo weapons training. Last week, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss issued a warning to China at the G7 summit in Madrid, saying any attempt to invade Taiwan would be a “catastrophic miscalculation”. Ms Truss said Beijing risked making the same mistake as Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding: “That’s exactly what we saw in the case of Ukraine – a strategic miscalculation by Putin.” Taiwan has been self-governing since Nationalist forces fled there in 1949 after the Communists took control of China, and is considered a rebel province by Beijing. China has vowed to regain control of the island and says force could be an option to do so, even as it has stepped up its military provocations against Taiwan in recent years. In June, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets to warn off a fleet of 29 Chinese planes, including bombers, that entered its air defense zone, China’s third largest incursion since the start of the year. The invasion included 17 fighters and six H-6 bombers as well as electronic warfare, early warning, anti-submarine warfare and aerial refueling aircraft, Taiwan’s defense ministry said. While the bombers flew south of the island and into the Pacific Ocean, some aircraft flew northeast of Pratas, officials said. The question of Taiwan’s sovereignty has been just one of the recent sticking points in relations between China and the US, which have close but informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. In May, China’s People’s Liberation Army held a drill around Taiwan as a “formal warning” against its “collusion” with the US. The move came after US President Joe Biden signaled a shift in policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan, saying the country would get involved militarily if China attacked the island.
