House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) has said that China is seeking to secure control of Taiwan by first not exercising military power, instead planning to meddle in the country’s next election.
“I think the next elections in next January are going to be extremely important because I do believe with the former President Ma in China right now, China’s going to try to influence this next election and take over the island without a shot fired,” McCaul, a Texas Republican, asserted Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Just The News reported that McCaul was referencing Ma Ying-jeou, who recently set the record as the first former Taiwanese president to have taken a trip to mainland China since the government belonging to the Republic of China vacated the nation after losing to Mao Zedong’s communists in the 1949 civil war.
Following his visit, Ma proclaimed that the country’s current president, Tsai Ing-wen, is leading Taiwan towards a path of destruction, adding that the future marks two clear paths: one of peace, the other of war. Tesia is notably much less pro-China than Ma, who served as the nation’s head of state from 2008 to 2016.
During the aforementioned exchange with Meet The Press, McCaul predicted that the Chinese Communist Party will assist the Kuomintang Party in the 2024 elections as they are currently too hesitant to launch a full military invasion of Taiwan, especially given the international backlash faced by Russian President Vladimir Putin following the commencement of his war with Ukraine.
“I think they’re very nervous,” McCaul said. “There’s a political debate here. … One party wants to talk to China. President Tsai’s party does not want to be a part of China.”
Recent rhetoric by McCaul and others has prompted concerns about an upcoming draft for American citizens to put their boots on the ground. Upon being asked by Fox News’ Asishah Hasnie if U.S. troops would potentially be sent to fight in Taiwan following a potential Chinese invasion, McCaul suggested it was a real possibility, acknowledging that sending in U.S. troops is “on the table.”
