Any attack on Taiwan would be a "strategic mistake" for China, like invading Ukraine was for Russia, the Pentagon's top general warned on Wednesday. “Attacking and sieging Taiwan across the strait is a difficult task to do...The Chinese would be at high risk and it will be an unwise geopolitical mistake and a strategic mistake similar to what Putin has made in Ukraine,” US Joint Chiefs chairman General Mark Milley was quoted as saying during a media briefing.
Millet said the probability of Ukraine pushing Russia entirely out of its territory was low. However, the war offered lessons to help Taiwan prepare to defend itself, he added. “One of the things people are learning is that war on paper is a whole lot different than real war," said Milley. “When blood is spilled, and people die, and real tanks are being blown up, things are a little bit different. There’s a lot of friction and fog and death in combat," he added.
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While he noted the Chinese military has not been involved in combat since fighting the Vietnamese in 1979, he said that the People's Liberation Army could easily open an assault on Taiwan with bombs and missiles, but mentioned that physically capturing the mountainous, heavily populated island would be a "very difficult military task."
"They would be playing a very, very dangerous game to cross the straits and invade the island of Taiwan. They don't have the experience, the background to do it. They haven't trained to do it yet," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"They would be playing a very, very dangerous game to cross the straits and invade the island of Taiwan. They don't have the experience, the background to do it. They haven't trained to do it yet," he said.
{{/usCountry}}He also termed China as a pacing threat and said Beijing has advanced its objective to become the number one power by mid-century. Milley said the continued superiority of the US military to China's helps to deter great power conflict between the two nations.
"Right now, the United States military is, without question, despite whatever criticisms people have, the most lethal warfighting machine on Earth, bar none. The United States military is number one and we intend to stay number one," he said while adding "China is not going to be a better military than the United States military is."
(With inputs from AFP, ANI)