China will eventually take military action against Taiwan: Vance

Washington, Sept. 13 (CNA) J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for U.S. vice president, said this week that he believes China will eventually make a military move on Taiwan and that America has left the latter in a "crappy" position because it sent all its weapons to Ukraine.

"China wants Taiwan, right? Everything that we have tells us the Chinese want Taiwan," Vance, also a senator from Ohio, said during the Shawn Ryan Show podcast aired Thursday.

"America, I think, has left Taiwan in a really crappy position because we sent all our weapons to Ukraine," he said.

Should there be a conflict right now, Vance said he is unsure whether the Taiwanese could repel a Chinese invasion.

During the interview, Vance said there are a few different explanations as to why China has not yet made a move on Taiwan.

"I think one thing is, even in a relatively weakened position, it's not an easy military maneuver," he said, adding that the Chinese probably "don't want to kill a lot of people, especially their own people" as this could destabilize them politically.

According to Vance, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is currently not in the strongest position politically, but that situation could change five years in the future.

"The other thing that you hear is maybe the Chinese don't think they ultimately need it [Taiwan]," he said, because Beijing might think it could control Taiwan from the outside without ever having to invade.

Noting that "there's probably some element of truth to all those explanations," Vance said he believes China will eventually make a real military move on Taiwan.

"It's probably going to be sooner rather than later. I hope not, but we'll see," Vance added.