United States prepares for long war with China

Earlier this month, US Air Force Brigadier General Doug Wickert summoned nearby civic leaders to Edwards Air Force Base in California to warn them that if China attacks Taiwan in the coming years, they should be prepared for their immediate region to suffer potentially massive disruption from the very start.

- Peter Apps

In a remarkable briefing shared by the base on social media and promoted in a press release, Brig Gen Wickert — one of America's most experienced test pilots now commanding the 412th Test Wing — outlined China's rapid military growth and preparations to fight a major war.

Cutting-edge US aircraft manufactured in California's nearby “Aerospace Valley”, particularly the B-21 “Raider” now replacing the 1990s B-2 stealth bomber, were key to keeping Beijing deterred, he said. However, if deterrence failed that meant China's would likely strike the US including nearby Northrop Grumman factories where those planes were built.

"If this war happens, it's going to happen here," Brig Gen Wickert told them, suggesting attacks could include a cyber offensive that included long-term disruption to power supplies and other national infrastructure.

"It's going to come to us. That is why we are having this conversation... The more ready we are, the more likely to change Chairman Xi's calculus."

Senior US officials have repeatedly briefed that they believe Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, although they say no direct decision appears to have been made yet to order that attack.

As Washington and Beijing square up for that potential fight, their military preparations now taking place on an industrial scale on both sides in a manner not seen in decades are themselves becoming a form of posturing and messaging.

Chinese officials deny they are working on a tight specific timeline. However, Beijing has become increasingly assertive in its sovereignty claims over the island where Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek set up his government in exile after losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949.