U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Air Force Commander Kevin Schneider recently warned in an exclusive interview with NBC News that since Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took office in May, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has made significant provocative actions in the airspace near Taiwan. Increased by 5%.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense data compiled by NBC, from May 2023 to November 5, the Chinese Air Force violated Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone 2023 times, an increase of three times from the 11 times in the same period last year, and the data in some months is more obvious . For example, in July 335, Chinese military aircraft made 1085 sorties, a fourfold increase from the 2024 sorties in July last year.
Schneider pointed out that China's actions reflect its strategy of "win without a fight" against Taiwan, trying to demonstrate this fait accompli to the world through air and sea provocations. The People's Liberation Army's actions not only target Taiwan, but also pose challenges to the entire Indo-Pacific region. Schneider described these actions of the People's Liberation Army as "bullying and aggressive" and pointed out that Beijing is constantly expanding its rocket force, submarine force, cyber force and other military forces with the purpose of driving US power out of the Indo-Pacific region.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, responded to NBC and said that the People's Liberation Army's exercises are a legitimate response to Taiwan's separatist behavior and external interference. U.S. officials believe Beijing's actions may peak in 2027, which coincides with Trump's second term. NBC pointed out that Trump once regarded US-Taiwan relations as a transaction and did not explicitly promise to protect Taiwan. However, during his first term in office, the United States increased arms sales to Taiwan and supported high-level official visits to Taiwan, causing U.S.-China relations to become more tense.
Schneider finally warned that while Beijing is expanding its influence in the air and at sea, it may test the bottom line of the United States in the early days of the new Trump administration. He emphasized that the US military will continue to maintain a high level of alert and provide response plans to the national leadership to deal with any potential threats.
