Republican Sen. Tom Cotton warns that a Chinese attack in the Pacific is highly likely

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), warned during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt that the risk of the communist regime in China executing a surprise attack in the Pacific is considerably greater than many believe. Asked for the reasons behind this view, the conservative leader explained that the main one was that China has managed to lull the international community to sleep with the numerous military drills they have been conducting over the past few years. Similarly, when asked whether Beijing might someday surprise attack Taiwan, Cotton explained that the chances are high.

"I don’t think we can ever take that for granted. I know that Taiwan, and, for that matter, Japan does not either. That’s why the increasing number of recent years of naval and air patrols by Communist China in Taiwan’s airspace and its waters, just like in Japan’s southwest islands, are so deeply troubling. It gives the people, Liberation Army, Air Force, and Navy more opportunities to train for the operation in which they might go for the jugular in Taiwan," Cotton told Hewitt while promoting his new book "Seven Things You Can't Say About China."

The senator also explained that such a reality represents a huge pressure on Japan and Taiwan. "It puts severe stress on Taiwan and Japan’s military — both their equipment and their people. You know, in times when you might be, say, doing operations or maintenance or training or just giving your troops a break, they have to scramble to intercept those Chinese aircraft and ships, and I think it also can’t help but to lead to a bit of a sense of complacency and dull the acuity of the antennae of everyone who’s involved," he detailed.

Unconventional actions

Elsewhere in the interview, Cotton explained that one of the biggest threats posed by the communist regime to the entire international community are "gray area" operations, which he described as the kind of actions that fall short of materializing into armed conflict, but go beyond conventional actions and end up promoting Chinese interests.

"China is justly unpopular with the vast majority of Americans, and most of those Americans are very worried about China,” Cotton said. “But if anything, it’s actually much worse. The threat is pervasive. It’s present today. It’s not remote in the future, and it is something that affects your everyday life in America, not just, you know, something that might affect our strategic position in the world years from now," Cotton stressed.