“The U.S. priorities should first be to prepare for a far more aggressive and assertive China than what we have encountered thus far,” Thayer said on NTD’s “China in Focus” program.
Whether Xi will continue as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be determined at the CCP’s 20th National Congress, set to be held in Beijing starting Oct. 16.
Should Xi secure his position, according to Thayer, he will be able to put his domestic situation in place by neutering dissidents and other opposing elements.
“We should expect that he now has the opportunity to convert his power and attention in international politics against his neighbors in the South China Sea, against U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific, and globally,” Thayer opined.
“We should expect aggression against Taiwan, a continued aggression against India, other Chinese neighbors, [and] the continued support for Putin’s war in Ukraine,” he added.
Thayer pointed to his book titled “Understanding the China Threat” that examines the conflicting ideologies of the United States and China. “The CCP’s ideology has been focused on the United States since before the Chinese regime came to power in 1949. And it has since been focused on the United States in an effort to destroy U.S. interests,” he said.
In his opinion, Xi has accelerated the regime’s aggression toward the West.
“The Chinese Communist Party, under Xi Jinping, is a far more belligerent and malevolent force than it was under his previous, essentially, his predecessors,” he said.
Deploying Troops to Taiwan
The freedom and sovereignty of Taiwan will immediately be at stake if Xi ‘s third term in power is affirmed, according to Thayer.“He’s [Xi] determined to force Taiwan into essentially PRC’s control as he did with Hong Kong.
This may happen sooner than we anticipate, not in years or within this decade, as is often said, but almost immediately, even in 2022, and certainly in 2023,” he predicted.
The expert pointed to the repeatedly shifting voices of the White House regarding Taiwan issues, noting that “the Biden administration has not shown the strength that the U.S. needs to demonstrate to [it will] deter a conventional invasion of Taiwan,” which, he said, would put Taiwan at greater risk.
Thus, he suggests that strategic ambiguity from the Biden administration towards Taiwan issues be addressed immediately.
“And that is right now that needs to be addressed with a changing force structure in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Specifically, the United States. should deploy army, marine, and coast guard units to the self-governed island.
The United States should go for a much greater build up of American naval forces and air force presence in cooperation with the Japanese and other allies in the Indo-Pacific.
The move, he said, would weave together a network of support to demonstrate that there is a conventional connection between NATO allies and Taiwan, to ensure that Xi will be deterred from the attack.
The expert further called for concerned Americans to express their support of Taiwan by contacting congressional representatives, elected representatives, and posting on social media.
Fighting Back
To counter a more aggressive regime, Thayer suggested that Americans develop their own awareness of the true nature of the regime so that, “you’re not fooled by their efforts to cloak it into a common destiny of mankind, or an image of China, which touts scientific progress, or which touts space exploration, … while masking the true nature of the regime, which is a totalitarian dictatorship.”To prevent the Chinese regime from thriving, according to the expert, measures should be taken to put pressure on financiers on Wall Street to stop investing in China, and to prevent Chinese entities from having access to American capital.
“We … are funding the Chinese Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army, and other the Chinese intelligence services by allowing Chinese entities to raise money on their own in New York. That’s simply outrageous and should be ended,” he said.
