China

“Xi Jinping has been moving heaven and earth to purge members of the military standing in his way. You know, ironically, one of the arguments made by people who are China observers is that if Xi Jinping went away, the people replacing him are even more extreme. That's actually, I'm led to believe not actually the case. Many of the people that Xi Jinping is replacing are people who think war for Taiwan is foolish. Plenty of them actually think that China needs to give up its expansionist ambitions and play nice with the West. And Xi Jinping is replacing those people. He wants war and we need to be ready for that war. We need to be able to help our allies.”

Xi Jinping's military purges and potential conflict with Taiwan are discussed.

“The recent RIMPAC exercise in Hawaii is billed as a critical part of combat readiness training for the U.S. and its ally, especially with China touting its own readiness target date to take back Taiwan. Their leader has declared that by 2027, they shall be ready to execute an unification by force. While Paparo says it's not a deadline for an attack, it makes his case to Congress for more defense spending and base investments in the Pacific, even as the Iran War strains America's weapon stockpiles. There's so many guided missile destroyers here in Pearl Harbor, and a significant purpose for them is to be able to defend Hawaii and to defend Guam, the Marianas, our allies and partners from missile attack and from air attacks.”

Xi Jinping's military readiness and intentions toward Taiwan are highlighted.