Washington, May 18: China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base, a move which will allow it to project power into the Indian Ocean and consolidate more control over the disputed South China Sea to “isolate” both India and Japan, a US lawmaker has warned.
Expressing concern over China’s growing economic and military power, Richard D Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told lawmakers Thursday that Beijing had a new strategy for gaining eventual global military access called “debt trap diplomacy”.
“China may be using debt pressure right now to force Djibouti to limit US military access in that strategic base. It recently gained ownership of a new large port in Sri Lanka by debt default. Vanuatu, Pakistan, Thailand and others are vulnerable,” Fisher said.
A good reason to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could be perhaps as early as the mid-2020s, was that China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base, he said.
“This will then trigger Chinese moves to isolate Japan, consolidate control over the South China Sea even more, project power into the Indian Ocean to isolate India. In Latin America, China will continue to exploit opportunities to cause trouble and gain military access,” he said.
China claims almost all of South China Sea and also laid claims on the Senkaku islands under the control of Japan in East China Sea and resorted to aggressive patrols in the last two years. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the waterway.
The US periodically deploys its naval ships and fighter planes to assert freedom of navigation. By the 2030s, the Chinese Air Force air mobile projection could be based on 100 to 200 large C-17 size Xian Y-20 heavy transports, and both their lightweight airborne forces and now medium-weight airborne projection forces are anticipated.
China is assembling a power-projection Navy that, by the 2030s, may have the world’s first totally nuclear-powered carrier battle group, Fisher said. It will have an initial amphibious projection of about 12 large ships by probably as early as the early 2030s. And the Chinese marines are reforming into a force of about 100,000. Other lawmakers also echoed Fisher’s concerns over China. Congressman Devin Nunes, Chairman House Intelligence Committee said during a Congressional hearing, that previous attempts to appease China had failed to improve the bilateral relations.