China may invade Taiwan within months, top US Navy official warns

A top U.S. Navy admiral is warning that China may invade Taiwan this year, citing how Beijing has delivered early on nearly all promises.

"It's not just what President Xi [Jinping] says, but it's how the Chinese behave and what they do, and what we've seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise they've made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it," Chief of U.S. Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said last week during an event with the Atlantic Council think tank.

Gen. Mark Milley said last year that China would want to be able to invade Taiwan by 2027, when the next National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is held and party leaders are selected, USNI News reported at the time. 

Last week, Xi declared a new effort to accelerate China's military growth and forcefully "oppose Taiwan independence" if needed.

"When we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window," Gilday said at the event coinciding with the week of the 2022 Communist Party Congress.

"I don't mean at all to be alarmist by saying that. It's just that we can't wish that away," Gilday said. 

Whether China controls Taiwan has been in dispute for centuries. Taiwan increasingly attempting to forge Western ties has resulted in numerous military shows of force in recent months.