How the US and China could end up at war by 2025 as tensions rage after spy balloon launch and anger over Taiwan

Fears of a war between China and the United States are growing by the day as tensions between the two superpowers mount.

New comments from a former US Air Force commander showed conflict may be closer than we think.

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Fears of growing unease between the two nations have solidified after the US military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon yesterday.

Mike Minihan, chief of the US Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, was blunt about tensions between the two countries in a leaked memo.

He said, “My gut tells me we’re going to fight in 2025.”

Minihan’s comments came just days before one of the most significant points of contention between the two superpowers in years unfolded over a surveillance balloon.

A balloon hovered over Alaska and the continental United States, violating American airspace and stoking fears that China might be gathering intelligence on American military bases.

China has repeatedly insisted the balloon was being used for meteorological and other scientific research and was off course, but the United States shot down the plane yesterday.

Former US Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Philip Davidson called the threats against Taiwan a possible trigger for the war.

Last year the admiral said: “I think the threat will manifest itself in this decade, in fact in the next six years.”

President Joe Biden may have underestimated the threat posed by China, even saying at the G-20 summit in Bali that there was “no immediate threat from China to invade Taiwan.”

The US has consistently sided with Taiwan as it faces increasing military aggression from China.

China considers the self-governing island part of its territory and said any steps it takes towards full independence would result in an invasion.

Xi has insisted that his party’s mission is “to reunite and rejuvenate the nation,” and that “natural imperative” he’s alluding to appears to be the addition of Taiwan.

US politician Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022 sparked a furious response from Beijing, with Chinese warships and warplanes circling the island in massive military exercises.

Retired US Lt. Col. Daniel Davis told the media he was worried about the future of the two countries in the face of these threats.

He said, “I see hotheads in Beijing, and I see hotheads in the Pentagon and in the various commands. And I’m very concerned about that.”

The “hotheads” in Beijing are already up in arms over the decision to shoot down the “civilian” balloon off the Atlantic coast.

In a statement, the Chinese government said, “China will resolutely uphold the legitimate rights and interests of relevant companies and reserve the right to take further necessary measures.”

It’s unclear what is meant by “further responses needed,” but fears of future conflict remain and are heightened by the launch of the Chinese balloon.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed earlier this month that China’s President Xi Jinping is a bigger threat than Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Pompeo went so far as to say Xi’s “malicious goal” is to achieve total dominance around the world.

He told Sky News: “With his Marxist-Leninist vision, he wants hegemonic intent around the world and Chinese economic and political dominance in every corner of the world.

“That is his malicious target. We have an obligation to the next generation to stand up against it.”

In October, China expert Skylar Mastro said Beijing was convinced that if the two countries went to war, it would have to hit America “hard and early” with a Pearl Harbor-style attack.

While Beijing may be preparing for a blitzkrieg to storm the Taiwan Strait and seize the island, experts have said the war could be far from quick.

With rugged beaches, rocky terrain, well-trained defenders, and unforgiving seas, China could face the same brutal, attritional war that Russia faces in Ukraine.

Taking Taiwan may even require Beijing to field a force of two million troops, it has been claimed.

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