MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

War between US and China to start in 2025, general foresees

“I hope I'm wrong,” wrote General Minihan, whose opinion is not shared by his superiors

US Air Force General Michael Minihan wrote in an internal memo that went public that he foresaw an armed confrontation with China by 2025, The Washington Post reported. “I hope I'm wrong,” Minihan said.

Minihan, the head of the Air Mobility Command, predicted China would invade Taiwan in 2025 using the 2024 presidential elections in Taiwan and the United States as an excuse and a distraction respectively.

“My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” the general wrote. Chinese President Xi Jinping “guaranteed his third term and set his war council in October 2022. Taiwan will hold presidential elections in 2024, which will give Xi a reason. The United States will hold presidential elections in 2024, which will give a distracted America to Xi. Xi's team, reasons, and opportunity will be in harmony by 2025,” Minihan's rationale went.

The four-star general also told his subordinates to train more aggressively and take care of their personal legal issues. Minihan's memo also asked airmen with weapons qualifications to empty clips into shooting targets while aiming for the head, saying that “unrepentant lethality matters most.”

However, the US Defense Department insisted that Minihan's comments “do not represent the Department's view on China.” Department spokesman Patrick Ryder insisted that the US remains focused on “working together with allies and partners to preserve a peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Meanwhile, an AMC spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of Minihan's memo: “His order builds on Air Mobility Command's seminal efforts last year to prepare Air Mobility Forces for a future conflict if deterrence fails.”

Tension keeps mounting around Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rogue province since 1949. Chinese military maneuvers in Taiwanese airspace and waters are reported almost daily.