Do they already know something? Or is it just theory?
World War III will erupt when Chinese President Xi Jinping invades Taiwan and tasks Russian leader and ally Vladimir Putin to attack NATO nations to keep them out of the Pacific, the defense block’s top chief warned.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said it would be “naive” to believe that Xi’s ambition to conquer the autonomous nation of Taiwan would only involve the two countries, predicting that the war would be fought on two fronts.
“There’s an increasing realization, and let’s not be naive about this: If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this, and I need you to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory,'” Rutte told The New York Times.
Xi and Putin have touted their close partnership throughout Russia’ invasion of Ukraine, with the Chinese president previously stating that their alliance has “no limits.”
Rutte’s prediction that Beijing would use Moscow to distract the West echoes reports from the European Union’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week, where the official allegedly claimed Xi cannot afford to see Russia lose the war in Ukraine.
The shock revelation reportedly saw Wang drop all pretenses and described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a blessing that allowed focus to shift away from Beijing’s looming invasion of Taiwan, sources familiar with the talks told the South China Morning Post.
American and Taiwanese officials predicted that China would mount its assault on Taiwan come 2027, as Beijing seeks to annex the independent country.
“We know that China has its eye on Taiwan. Given this whole geopolitical setup, there is no way we can defend ourselves if we stick to this old 2 percent,” he added.
In order to curb the risk of global war, Rutte said it was imperative that NATO bolster its forces in order to scare Russia from expanding its invasion further into Europe.
He also called on western nations to unite and curb China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific, which has seen Beijing perform several, large-scale military drills surrounding Taiwan.
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