The Observer view on Xi Jinping’s increasing threats to Taiwan | Observer editorial
Chinese president Xi Jinping's menacing declaration that reunification with Taiwan is a historical task [that] must be fulfilled and definitely will be fulfilled" came at the end of a fraught week. Provocative sorties by Chinese combat aircraft inside the island's air defence zone are at record levels. Defiant statements by Taiwan's leaders to do whatever it takes" to repel invasion have acquired a new intensity. The US and regional countries are uneasy. Is war coming?
Most analysts think not, not yet at least. Unlike previous verbal broadsides, Xi's speech in the Great Hall of the People avoided an overt threat of force to defeat those he calls independence separatists". The People's Liberation Army navy is building amphibious assaults ships and landing craft needed for an invasion. Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan's defence minister, predicts Beijing will be ready to attack by 2025.
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