China's Strategic Forces in 'Dangerous Position' Near Taiwan, Says US Army Pacific Chief

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - China has already deployed major strategic rapid strike and rocket forces near the island of Taiwan and they are in a "dangerous position," Indo-Pacific Land Forces Commander Gen. Charles Flynn told a meeting at the American Enterprise Institute.

"PLA [People's Liberation Army] rocket forces and strategic support forces are in a dangerous position," Flynn said on Monday. "Both [deployments indicate] very irresponsible and dangerous behavior."

China has created twelve new airfields in its Western Military District and has been gradually amassing other large and formidable forces in the region, Flynn said.

"They have choked off access to fresh water in the Mekong River. ...They have moved two (army) corps on the Line of X Control (LOC) with India," Flynn said.

Chinese companies have also been establishing new transportation lines of communication across Myanmar in order to be able to rapidly deploy forces overland to the Andaman Sea, Flynn added.

Such statements continue the general line of confrontation between the US and the PRC over the status of Taiwan following the so-called fourth Taiwan Strait crisis - the escalation of relations between China and Taiwan in July and August 2022, triggered by a planned visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the 52nd US House of Representatives.

At the start of Pelosi's trip, China launched live-fire military exercises in the waters of Fujian province, which has a water border with Taiwan. The US has also increased its naval presence in the region.

The crisis prompted the top leaders of China and the United States to hold a telephone conversation in advance in which Joe Biden said that the United States was strongly opposed to any attempt to unilaterally change the status of Taiwan and Xi Jinping, in turn, urged Biden to respect the principle of "one China" and warned the American president that "those who play with fire will only get burnt".