Commander of the U.S. Air Mobility Command (AMC) General Mike Minihan says his “guts” tell him his country will be involved in a “fight” with China in 2025. In the internal memo to his subordinates, including AMC Wing Commanders, Minihan said he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping is setting the stage of war over Taiwan.
In what he says are the first of eight monthly directives, Minihan says his force must spend 2023 preparing and building on the need for preparedness. He says the aim is to deter, and if that doesn’t succeed, defeat China.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) says the U.S. should heed the lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war and take its “adversaries” at face value when they “threaten their neighbors.” Him and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Minihan had “the correct mentality” to issue the memo to his Airmen to be prepared “with the urgency that the situation demands”.
The NGO Code Pink says the U.S. should not militarize the region, and should pursue diplomacy and cooperation instead of “creating a self-fulfilling prophecy” of a possible future war with China.