Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo Cheng noted on Wednesday that tensions between the Taipei and Beijing had reached an all-time high after dozens of Chinese aircraft conducted flights through Taiwan's air defense zone, suggesting that heated exchanges were likely in just a few years' time.
The defense minister's remarks came during a parliamentary appearance in which he was asked to remark on the island nation's current military tensions with China, according to Reuters, which further reported that China had carried out upwards of 100 flights across the nation's territory over the last several days.
Chiu reportedly took the opportunity to acknowledge that exchanges with China had been "the most serious" in more than 40 years, since his time serving in the military, underscoring that the current situation ups the possibility of a "misfire" over the Taiwan Strait.
"For me as a military man, the urgency is right in front of me," he said, later offering that Taiwanese officials see the possibility of a military invasion by China in the next few years.
"By 2025, China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration."
Chiu's commentary follows similar remarks voiced by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen, who recently called on the US to up its presence in the region. In a submission for the New York-based media outlet Foreign Affairs, Tsai wrote that there would be "catastrophic" consequences if Taiwan were to fall.
The island nation of Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, is seen by Beijing as a wayward Chinese territory that must be returned to the jurisdiction of the mainland, by force, if necessary. Taiwan has long been a self-governing nation, however, and Taipei has consistently stated that it will protect its autonomy at any cost, having purchased billions' of dollars of weapons from US over the years.
In late 2020, the US Department of Defense approved a hefty $1.8 billion weapons sale package that included rocket launchers, upgraded sensors and artillery.
Although US President Joe Biden left many reporters somewhat confused on Tuesday when touching on the latest developments between China and Taiwan, he has previously stated that he has no intention of altering the long-standing US policy of backing the "One-China Policy," a piece of Chinese geopolitical branding that envisions the return of Taiwan to the control of Beijing.
China's uptick of military activity near the island nation came shortly after the US State Department expressed "concern" over Beijing's "provocative" military actions in the region.