America’s push for 2027 combat readiness in the Indo-Pacific is raising questions over whether a year that US military officials linked to a possible People’s Liberation Army attack on Taiwan has instead become a planning benchmark.
The preparations come despite a US intelligence assessment published in March that mainland Chinese leaders “do not currently plan” to attack Taiwan in 2027, “nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification”.
General Ronald Clark, commander of US Army Pacific, said on Tuesday that 2027 remained a year by which “we need to be ready”, according to American military newspaper Stars and Stripes.