At a time when a war is raging between Russia and Ukraine, the US is making preparations for waging a war against China. A high ranking official in the US Air Force has reportedly told his superiors that Washington DC might have to declare a war against the Asian Giant in the next couple of years. Although the Pentagon has dismissed such a possibility, the statement of Michael A ‘Mike’ Minihan, a General in the US Air Force who has been serving as the Commander of Air Mobility Command since October 5, 2021, has triggered a sensation across the globe.

It may be noted that the Air Mobility Command has 110,000 members, and General Mike sent a memo, warning of US-China War, to his top leadership. Although the memo was dated February 1, 2023, he sent it on January 27. A section of US military experts is of the opinion that the view of General Mike is contrary to the Pentagon’s analysis. However, the memo shows the level of concern of the top US military leadership about a possible war with China. The military experts believe that Taiwan is at the centre of this concern.

The US has claimed that China is trying to control Taiwan by force. The Joe Biden Administration has repeatedly stressed that it would not allow Beijing to undermine sovereignty of Taiwan. Meanwhile, General Mike has mentioned in his memo that China might launch military action against Taiwan in 2024, when both Taiwan and the US would hold their respective Presidential Elections. He also said that China’s military action against its neighbour could trigger a war between the Asian Powerhouse and the US. As the US is heavily dependent on Taiwan for semiconductor (a substance with specific electrical properties that enable it to serve as a foundation for computers and other electronic devices), Washington DC would not tolerate Beijing’s aggression in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has refused to accept General Mike’s views as true, with a senior US Defence Department official saying: “There is a political angle here, with Congress thinking about slashing the defence budget.” He added: “These generals – I hate to say it – they have an incentive to remind leaders of a potential major security threat that would require a strong defence.”

Incidentally, China aims to establish absolute control over Taiwan. It is clear from the current course of events that the Xi Jinping Administration shall not hesitate to use force in order to achieve its target. In that case, the US, too, shall help Taiwan maintain its sovereignty. Experts are of the opinion that a war between the US and China may not stop Beijing’s emergence as the centre of gravity of the Global Economy.

In a separate development, Mike Pompeo, the former US Secretary of State, has stated that Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, is the most unpleasant leader he came across. In his recently-released autobiography ‘Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love’, Pompeo has stated that he had held multiple meetings with the Chinese leader, and found him “dour” and a “quintessential Communist apparatchik”. The former Secretary of State wrote: “Personally, I thought Xi was dour. While (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can be funny and mirthful, even while being evil; Xi was not so serious as dead-eyed. I never once saw an unforced smile.”

Pompeo, who was popularly known as a China hater during his tenure as Secretary of State, has also mentioned in his publication that India and Pakistan were on the brink of a Nuclear War in 2019, after the the Indian airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot. However, the timely intervention by the US resolved the crisis. Pompeo wrote that he had received a late night phone call from Sushma Swaraj, the then External Affairs Minister of India, to warn about the impending nuclear attack on her country by Pakistan, after the February 19, 2019 Balakot surgical strike on a terrorist training camp of Jaish-e-Muhammad. Pompeo stressed that he was “deep in slumber, but sprung into action and dialed Rawalpindi because the most powerful person of Pakistan lives there“. Finally, his late night diplomatic maneuvers resulted in preventing the two South Asian neighbours from escalating the nuclear brinkmanship.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das