China will invade Taiwan taking cue from Putin, warns Trump

Donald Trump former President of United States has warned that the Chinese regime will invade Taiwan after seeing Russian troops move into Ukraine.

Such an invasion against self-governing Taiwan will occur because Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are an example of twin sisters, Trump said during an interview on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. “China is going to be next,” Trump said.

“They’re waiting ’til after the Olympics. Now the Olympics ended, and look at your stopwatch, right? No, he wants that just like … It’s almost like twin sisters right here,” he added.

“Because you have one that wants Taiwan, I think, equally badly,” Trump added. “Somebody said, ‘Who wants it more?’ I think probably equally badly.”

He suggested that neither Putin nor Xi would make a move if he were the president.

“Putin would have never done it, and Xi would have never done it,” the former president said.

Putin and Xi met in China earlier this month. After their meeting, they released a lengthy statement, claiming that the two bordering nations enjoy strong ties in which there would be no limits in their partnership and no forbidden areas of cooperation.

Xi—who is likely to be handed an unprecedented third term in office at an important Chinese Communist Party meeting later this year—vowed in October last year that reunification of Taiwan with China would “definitely be realized.”

On February 23 this year, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen ordered the island’s national security agencies and military forces to ramp up their efforts to monitor and provide early warning of military developments in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas, following a high-level national security meeting on developments in Ukraine.

China and Taiwan are separated by the Taiwan Strait, which is about 80 miles wide at its narrowest point.

The Chinese regime sees Taiwan as part of its territory that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. However, Taiwan is a de facto independent country, where Taiwanese people elect their own government officials through democratic elections.

Republican Michael McCaul also hinted a connection between Ukraine and Taiwan, while speaking to ABC earlier this month.

“Xi is watching what is happening in Ukraine, our adversaries are watching,” McCaul said. “If Putin can go into Ukraine with no resistance, certainly, Xi will take Taiwan. He’s always wanted this.”

In light of its ambitions toward Taiwan and the broader Asia–Pacific region, Beijing has been engaged in an aggressive program of military modernization. Part of this includes expanding its nuclear arsenal, with a 2021 Pentagon report estimating that the regime might have 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027, and as many as 1,000 by 2030.

The report pointed out different military actions the Chinese regime might deploy against Taiwan, including air and maritime blockades, precision airstrikes, and a full-scale amphibious invasion.

In recent years, Taiwan has been bearing the brunt of persistent Chinese military harassment, with military jets flying into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a regular basis. According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, the latest incursion happened on February 23, when two J-16 military jets entered the island’s southwestern ADIZ, prompting the island to deploy its military aircraft and air defense missile systems in response.

A recent survey conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found that most Taiwanese do not believe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to Beijing attacking the self-governing island. The survey polled 1,079 people for two days ending on February 15.

The survey found that 62.9% said it was either unlikely or impossible that China would attack Taiwan. Meanwhile, 26.6% said it was either very likely or fairly possible that China would attack the island after Russia invades Ukraine.

On February 24, Putin declared a special military operation in Ukraine. Soon afterward, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced martial law and said Russia had conducted strikes on Ukraine’s military infrastructure and border guards.

Russian aggression drew immediate criticism from Republican Ashley Hinson. Writing on Twitter, she stated: “I strongly condemn Putin’s unprovoked military attack on Ukraine. Americans stand with the Ukrainian people who deserve freedom and peace.”

“The world is watching us. We must ensure that our allies, like Taiwan, know they can rely on the US,” Hinson added.

China criticizes sanctions against Russia

China on Wednesday criticized the expansion of economic sanctions against Russia, saying that penalties were unlikely to solve the Ukraine crisis, on the contrary these can hurt common man as well as the interests of Beijing, The New York Times reported.

“The position of the Chinese government is that we believe that sanctions have never been a fundamental and effective way to solve problems, and China always opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

Member states of the European Union have given their green light, via their envoys in Brussels, to the first package of sanctions on Russia, an EU diplomat said.

The sanctions still need formal approval by the foreign ministers and will enter into force once these are published in the EU's official journal, a step expected later on Wednesday.

Ukraine on Wednesday urged the West to impose more sanctions on Russia that target the economy and the inner circle around President Vladimir Putin.

US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Wednesday that the US is prepared to respond to further aggression by withholding technology and resources.

"We're going to cut him off from Western technology that's critical to advancing the military, cut him off from Western financial resources that will be critical for feeding his economy and also to enriching himself," Adeyemo said in an interview with CNBC.

In a phone call, Erdogan told Putin that military conflict in the region would not benefit anyone and repeated his offer to help achieve a solution, his office said. Erdogan also said he valued Putin's close cooperation on regional issues and wanted to continue this.

"President Erdogan, who renewed his call for the matter to be resolved through dialog, stated that it was important to bring diplomacy to the forefront, and that Turkey continued its constructive stance in NATO as well."

Earlier, Erdogan was cited by media as saying Turkey cannot abandon ties with Ukraine or Russia.

"First decisive steps were taken yesterday, and we are grateful for them," Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet. "Now the pressure needs to step up to stop Putin. Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now."

Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday approved imposing sanctions on 351 Russians, including lawmakers who supported the recognition of the independence of separatist-controlled territories and the use of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

The sanctions restrict almost all possible types of activities, in particular, a ban on entry into Ukraine, prohibiting access to assets, capital, property, licenses for business. The Security Council was due to impose the sanctions after the vote.

One of Europe's worst security crises in decades was unfolding after Russia recognized two areas of eastern Ukraine as independent. Ukraine accused Russia of wrecking peace talks on ending an eight-year-old conflict in the region.

The sanctions began to be imposed against Russia on Tuesday after Putin ordered troops into eastern Ukraine and threatened to go further if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its neighbor.