US Navy Chief Warns: Beijing Could Invade Taiwan Before 2024

Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday testifies during a hearing before a Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington on June 22, 2021. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The U.S. Navy Chief warned of the potential for a conflict with China in the next couple of years and the U.S. military must be ready.

Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of U.S. naval operations, expressed his worry that Xi Jinping may try to seize Taiwan sooner.

“What we’ve seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise they’ve made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it,” Gilday said.

He made his comments during a discussion hosted by the nonpartisan think-tank, Atlantic Council on Oct. 19.

Gilday said, “When we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window; I can’t rule it out.”

Gilday is referencing the comment Admiral Phil Davidson, then U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made in 2021 when he warned that China could attempt to take control of Taiwan by the end of the decade.

He believes that the threat will manifest during this decade, “[I]n fact in the next six years,” said Davidson when testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Admiral Philip S. Davidson waits to meet Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 22, 2020. Eugene Hoshiko/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In 2021, Taiwan’s defense minister, Kuo-cheng Chiu, also said “The CCP currently has the ability to invade Taiwan, but it has to pay the cost;  the cost will be further reduced, and it will have the ability to attack Taiwan in an all-round way,” reported the Taiwan based Central News Agency.

Taiwan’s Readiness

Party leader Xi Jinping claimed to “reserve the option of taking all measures necessary,” including “the use of force” to strive for reunification with the island in his address on the opening day of the Party’s national meeting on Oct. 16.

In response to the threat of an invasion by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Taiwan’s national security chief, Ming-tong Chen, answered reporters’ questions before the budget review of the National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 20.

“I want to solemnly tell the Beijing authorities that there is no chance of winning to attack Taiwan by force,” Chen said.

In the defense budget review, he explained that the regime is encountering both internal and external pressure.

Chen said that when CCP initates a military act, it is how a dictator would engage as a common tactic to divert domestic pressure.

He was referring to the protest banners hung on the heavily guarded Beijing Sitong Bridge during the CCP’s 20th national meeting. It is a signal of the immense domestic pressure the CCP is facing.

He said, “The CCP wants to change the status quo not just for the Taiwan Strait, but also for the entire international order,” but Taiwan’s military is prepared.

The expansion of the CCP’s totalitarianism is a threat to the free world, he stressed, “The democratic countries must unite … and the international community must have this sober awareness.”

When asked how long Taiwan’s energy will last should the CCP blockade the Taiwan Strait, Chen replied, “The blockade is considered a war. Basically, we will find a way to create a safe passage. This is a very serious national security issue.”

Lin Yan contributed to this report.