EYE ON 2027: The US military has placed equipment, materiel and personnel on the islands near China, a US officer said while warning about the threat from China
/ Staff writer
The US Army Pacific （USARPAC） is deploying forces and equipment across the region based on the assumption that Beijing could possess the military capability and the intent to invade Taiwan by next year, a top US commander said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu, US General Ronald Clark said that the threat posed by the so-called “Davidson window” is “still valid,” US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday.
The term stems from a 2021 warning by Admiral Philip Davidson, then-head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, that the threat of Chinese military action against Taiwan could materialize within six years.
The six-year timeframe has driven US defense budgeting and strategy in the Pacific with the goal of deterring or obstructing an invasion, Stars and Stripes reported.
Asked whether the Davidson window was still relevant, Clark said: “The answer for us at USARPAC is yes.”
The six-year window is “a period of time for which we’re snapping the chalk line to say we need to be ready by this date,” he said in the report. “So we’ve embarked upon a strategic approach to setting the theater that we refer to as Army Ready Forward.”
Under the Army Ready Forward initiative, USARPAC has placed equipment, materiel and personnel on a rotational basis west of the International Date Line on the island chains closest to China, Clark said.
The most pressing issue for the military is finding the right balance between “exquisite high-end systems and affordable, mass-producible alternatives,” particularly regarding autonomous systems, he said.
The 2027 timeline has been a focal point for US defense planning, although assessments of Beijing’s immediate intent vary.
In 2023, former CIA director William Burns said US intelligence indicated that Chinese President Xi Jinping （習近平） had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army （PLA） to be ready by next year to conduct a successful invasion.
However, an annual threat assessment issued in March by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed that Chinese leaders did not currently plan to invade Taiwan in 2027.
“Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification,” it said. “Beijing almost certainly will consider a variety of factors in deciding whether and how to pursue military approaches to unification, including PLA readiness, the actions and politics of Taiwan, and whether or not the US will militarily intervene on Taiwan’s behalf.”
新聞來源：
TAIPEI TIMES