China Will Launch War This Decade, Rubio Says
16 January 2025
By Micah McCartney
EXCERPT
Speaking during his confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio expressed the importance of the so-called “porcupine strategy,” which involves arming Taiwan to the teeth to make China think twice about moving against its neighbor.
“I don’t mean to want to be alarmist about it, but if you listen to Xi Jinping, and it’s important when you listen to him[…] What they’re basically saying is that this is a foundational and definitional issue for Xi Jinping personally,” he said.
“And as a result I think we need to wrap our head around the fact that unless something dramatic changes like an equilibrium where they conclude that the costs of intervening in Taiwan are too high, we’re going to have to deal with this before the end of this decade.”
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been a vocal critic of communism and the Chinese government, targeting its Taiwan policies, the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, and its treatment of Uyghur and Tibetan minorities.
During his three Senate terms, Rubio has sponsored several pro-Taiwan bills. In 2020, he met with Taiwan’s then-vice president and now-President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing labels a “separatist.”
China’s ongoing pressure campaign includes near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and major military drills, such as a simulated blockade of the island.
China has also accelerated the production of dual-use naval vessels, including roll-on/roll-off cargo ships capable of transporting troops and vehicles across the Taiwan Strait. According to a recent report, specialized barges with extendable road spans are being built that boast extendable road spans that could deposit invading forces directly onto coastal roads beyond Taiwan’s heavily defended beaches.
Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, told Newsweek via X: “Xi Jinping wants the Peoples Republic of China to subsume Taiwan under his leadership. We should take him seriously. Washington must elevate its relationship with Taiwan and blunt Beijing’s efforts to isolate Asia’s most vibrant democracy. Sen. Marco Rubio understands this and is sounding the alarm.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during Thursday’s daily press briefing: “Taiwan belongs to China, and the Taiwan issue is purely China’s internal affair and brooks no external interference[…] What the U.S. should do is to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, abide by its commitment not to support Taiwan independence, stop conniving at Taiwan independence separatist forces, and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs on the Taiwan issue.”
