The Economic Times
Date: May 18, 2018

WASHINGTON: China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base, a move which will allow it to project power into the Indian Ocean and consolidate more control over the disputed South China Sea to “isolate” both India and Japan, a US lawmaker has warned.

Expressing concern over China’s growing economic and military power, Richard D Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told lawmakers yesterday that Beijing had a new strategy for gaining eventual global military access called “debt trap diplomacy”.

“China may be using debt pressure right now to force Djibouti to limit US military access in that strategic base. It recently gained ownership of a new large port in Sri Lanka by debt default. Vanuatu, Pakistan, Thailand and others are vulnerable,” Fisher said.

A good reason to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could be perhaps as early as the mid-2020s, was that China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base, he said.    [FULL  STORY]