China Takes Aim at U.S., Taiwan in Military Blueprint
Gerry Shih, “China Takes Aim at U.S., Taiwan in Military Blueprint,” The Washington Post, 24 July 2019.
BEIJING — China sharpened its hostility toward the United States and Taiwan in a new high-level report on its future military strategy that accused Washington and its allies of undermining global stability. …
“If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military would not hesitate to go to war,” Chinese military spokesman Wu Qian said as he laid out what officials called a revised national defense policy for “the New Era” — a catchphrase that denotes the imprimatur of China’s assertive leader, Xi Jinping. …
Tensions soared this week… as China and Russia flew bombers on a joint patrol into airspace claimed by Japan and South Korea, leading Seoul and Tokyo to scramble fighter jets. South Korean military officials said they fired warning shots at the Chinese-Russian sortie.
The patrol was widely seen as a demonstration of growing cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, especially given the alleged incursion into airspace claimed by two key U.S. allies in Asia.
“As Sino-Russian relations enter a new era, the Chinese and Russian militaries will continue to push military relations to new, historic highs,” Wu said when asked about the patrol. …
Andrew Erickson, a Chinese military expert at the U.S. Naval War College, said the new white paper, the first in four years, did not outline qualitatively different strategies but sent a political message.
“It reflects Xi’s self-dictated era, strategy, goals, reforms, and rhetoric,” he said. “The report contains strong rhetoric doubling down on domestic stability imperatives and sovereignty claims vis-a-vis Taiwan and the East and South China Seas.” … … …
