Marco Rubio says China won’t move on Taiwan anytime soon

Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday that despite Chinese provocations in Taiwan, he doesn’t expect an invasion anytime soon even as Russia invades Ukraine.

Rubio, appearing on the Sean Hannity Show, said he expected an attempted takeover “this decade,” but expects it to happen years down the road, and potentially without the kind of spectacle currently happening in Ukraine.

“Ultimately, what China wants is to be nice to Russia on it,” Rubio said about Chinese reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“What they want is for Russia to be supportive two, three, four years down the road when they make their move on Taiwan,” Rubio said, seemingly throwing cold water on the notion a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is imminent.

Instead, Rubio suggested the disposition of Ukraine may serve as a sufficient cautionary tale for Taiwan.

“It could be soon, but I think China’s preference with Taiwan is to say, ‘Did you guys see what happened in Ukraine? Did you see what happened? NATO didn’t do anything about it. America couldn’t do anything about it. And nobody can do anything about you guys.'”

Rubio said he expects something to happen “this decade,” but said China believes they can get Taiwan to “cave in” and accept Beijing’s dominion.

“I don’t think we’ll finish this decade without them acting on it, there’s no doubt about it,” Rubio told Hannity.

“The reason why I don’t think it’s just overnight is because China actually believes they have a chance to get Taiwan to just cave in, convince Taiwan,” Rubio said as Hannity interrupted him with crosstalk.

The Senator’s cautious optimism about the Taiwan situation comes as Chinese warplanes continue to infringe upon Taiwanese airspace.

“Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China’s territory. This is an indisputable historical and legal fact,” asserted a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry this week.