Washington should make move against China before it occupies Taiwan, says US defence expert

Amid Beijing's increased military incursions in Taiwan, a US defence expert said that Washington may not be able to drive China out of Taiwan if it attacks and occupies the democratic island.

The remarks came from Peter Huessy, who is the Head of the Geo-Strategic Analysis consulting firm and Senior Defence Advisor to the Air Force Association, Taiwan News reported.

Therefore, he explained to Voice of America (VOA) that the US should deter China before its occupation of the democratic island.

His remarks came as Beijing's rapidly expanding nuclear weapons arsenal have caused concern among the US policymakers about the communist state's rising coercive military capacity, Taiwan News reported.

Huessy also said that the main breakthroughs for Beijing include the construction of more than 350 missile silos, building the world's largest navy with deep-sea force projection capacity, as well as having the strongest ballistic missiles in the Western Pacific area.

"The US is very concerned about these developments now that China has real coercive military capabilities, especially owing to its growing nuclear arsenal," Huessy was quoted as saying by Taiwan News.

Meanwhile, another defence expert, Timothy R Heath said the possibility of an armed conflict between the US and China is extremely low.

Although China may be frustrated by the "Taiwan issue," if it starts a war with the US it would cause economic damage to China and the loss of many lives, he added.

The developments came as Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

Taiwan is a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China.

Despite being governed separately for more than seven decades, Beijing kept making incursions into the democratic island.

China has also threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.

On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.

( With inputs from ANI )