An American general warns of war with China in 2025

An American fighter during a military exercise.

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General Michael Minihan, a member of the US Air Force, warned of the high risks of war between the United States and China in 2025, most likely because of Taiwan, urging his elements to prepare for combat starting this year.

"I hope I'm wrong," General Minihan wrote in an internal memo, confirmed by the Pentagon, to AFP.

My gut tells me we will be fighting in 2025.”

He added that Chinese President Xi Jinping simultaneously has a team, motivation and opportunity in 2025, stressing that the Taiwanese elections of 2024 will give the Chinese leader a reason to act.

And he considered that the presidential race to reach the White House, scheduled for the same year, would also provide China with the opportunity to have a “distracted America.”

In this memorandum, the American general called on his forces to train for combat, especially by going to shooting ranges, and shooting at specific targets and towards the "head".

Last August, China conducted major military maneuvers around Taiwan, in an unprecedented show of force, in response to a visit to the island by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

China considers the island, with a population of 24 million, to be one of its regions, and it looks with displeasure at the rapprochement in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which provides military support to the island in the face of Beijing.

• General Minihan called on his forces to practice fighting and aiming at the "head".

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