Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, a top United States General on Tuesday said that China may take advantage of the standoff as the western nations are currently distracted to diffuse the situation.
“From the standpoint of will China see what's happening in Europe and... try to do something here in the Indo-Pacific -- absolutely yes, that's a concern…I do have my concerns that they would want to take advantage… It won't be surprising if they tried something that may be provocative, and see how the international community reacts,” General Kenneth Wilsbach, the head of US Pacific Air Forces said on the sidelines of the Singapore Air Show.
General Wilsbach went on to explain that China analyses every crisis in international politics as a potential “opportunity for gain”. General Wilsbach comments come on the back of China’s rammed-up military pressure on Taiwan which it considers as its own territory.
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On Tuesday, the Taiwanese defence ministry had said that a small Chinese civilian airplane flew dangerously close to a Taiwanese Island located off the Chinese coast. This adds to a long list of air incursions undertaken by China into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ). In January 2022, Taiwan reported a massive incursion by 39 Chinese aircrafts in the ADIZ near its Pratas Islands.
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The United States last week approved funds for maintaining and improving Patriot Missile defence system deployed in Taiwan worth USD100 million which would help “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region,” the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. The US is also aiming to accelerate the delivery of 66 new-build F-16 C/D Block 70 aircraft to Taiwan in a deal worth USD8 billion which was signed in 2019.
