House Foreign Affairs Chair: China’s Drills Around Taiwan Preparation ‘For What They Would Do’ in a War

During an interview with NBC News on Monday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) stated that China’s recent “surrounding” of Taiwan with an “armada of ships and airplanes” is China “preparing for what they would do in the event of a war” over the island.

McCaul said he visited Taiwan despite China’s warnings not to “Because we support Taiwan, we support freedom and democracy against dictatorships like the one that’s very close to where we’re sitting right now. The People’s Republic of China’s been very aggressive, as you saw, sending a letter and warning me not to come here, that it would be in violation of the One China Policy. I would argue what they have done is violating the One China Policy.”

He continued, “And then you saw the armada of ships and airplanes, one of the largest ones we’ve seen, surrounding the island, basically executing their war games, preparing for what they would do in the event of a war, all because of democracy. It’s like a protest, a military exercise game to protest democracy because they don’t like the fact that President Lai won, fair and square, in a peaceful way through democracy.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett