(OPINION) While America has been distracted by the circus in Washington regarding the Trump indictment, and Biden has kept himself busy with celebrating “Pride Month” at the White House, China’s President Xi is actively preparing China for war with the West.
According to the WSJ, Since late last month, the Chinese leader has twice urged the nation to prepare for what he described as extreme scenarios or conditions—trotting out a phraseology implying the possibilities of escalating tensions as the competition between the U.S. and China intensifies.
Xi Jinping knows very well that Joe Biden is a weak leader and would never resort to using nuclear weapons if the Chinese move against Taiwan.
At a top-level meeting focused on national security on May 30, the Chinese leader said, “We must be prepared for worst-case and extreme scenarios, and be ready to withstand the major test of high winds, choppy waters, and even dangerous storms.”
A week later, Xi extended that concept to the economic arena. While inspecting an industrial park in Inner Mongolia, Xi said efforts to build up the domestic market are aimed at “ensuring normal operation of the national economy under extreme circumstances.”
This comes as China has continued to send large numbers of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone… Taiwan’s air force scrambled into action on Sunday after spotting 10 Chinese warplanes crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, as the island’s defence ministry said four Chinese warships also carried out combat patrols.
This is the second time in less than a week that Taiwan has reported renewed Chinese military activity, after 37 Chinese military aircraft on Thursday flew into the island’s air defence zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific. They are probing Taiwan’s defenses.
In fact, tensions have escalated to a level so extreme that the US government is reported to be currently organizing the evacuation of Americans living in Taiwan.
According to a senior US intelligence person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the strategy, reported this evacuation planning has been ongoing for at least six months and has significantly increased over the last few months.
The official explained to the US outlet that the preparations have been prompted by a heightened level of tension, citing factors such as the visible build-up of forces and China’s alignment with Russia concerning the situation in Ukraine. They also stressed that these developments are not beyond what is already reported in the news.
We now have a new warning that has indicated that Chinese hackers are all but certain to disrupt American critical infrastructure, such as pipelines and railways, in the event of a conflict with the United States, a senior U.S. cybersecurity official said Monday.
In comments made during an appearance at the Aspen Institute in Washington, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said Beijing was making major investments in the capability to sabotage U.S. infrastructure.
“This, I think, is the real threat that we need to be prepared for, and to focus on, and to build resilience against,” she told her audience. She cautioned that Americans needed to be prepared for the likelihood that Beijing’s hackers would dodge their defenses and cause damage in the physical world.
“Given the formidable nature of the threat from Chinese state actors, given the size of their capability, given how much resources and effort they’re putting into it, it’s going to be very, very difficult for us to prevent disruptions from happening,” she said.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request seeking a reaction to the warning. Easterly’s comments followed a question about an alleged Chinese hacking group known as Volt Typhoon, which U.S. officials and cybersecurity companies accused of positioning itself to carry out destructive cyberattacks in the event of a conflict.
This type of scenario would also justify the recent report of “growing concerns of security risks” to members of US Congress, where more than 50 senators were recently issued satellite phones for emergency communication.
The report indicated that this technology has been offered to all 100 senators. In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee last month, Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson said satellite communication is being deployed “to ensure a redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event.”
According to Yahoo News, Gibson stated that these phones are a security backstop in the case of an emergency that “takes out communications” in part of America. Federal funding will pay for the satellite airtime needed to utilize the phone devices.
It appears that surrounding Nations aren’t in the dark regarding what’s transpiring as NATO just conducted the largest aerial wargames in history, which included 250 aircraft, and over 10,000 service members from 25 Nato and partner countries – including Japan and Sweden.
Of course, many will simply imply this is a show of force to try to intimidate Putin and Russia but we must also remember that Putin also has a strong alliance with China and President Xi as well. Therefore, NATO understands the magnitude of what would happen if a war were to break out between the West and China.
