BEIJING, 08 October 2021, (TON): Military tensions between China and Taiwan are at their highest in four decades, the island’s defence minister warned on Wednesday, adding Beijing would be in a position to launch a full-scale invasion in 2025.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary.

Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng offered his assessment after around 150 Chinese warplanes, a record number that included nuclear-capable bombers, made incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone starting on Friday.

Chiu told parliament for the military, the current situation is the grimmest in the more than 40 years since I joined the service.”

He warned that even “slight carelessness” or “miscalculation” could spark a crisis, and that China would be able to launch an invasion of the island in four years.

Chiu said “it is capable now but it has to calculate what it would cost, and what kind of outcome it wishes to achieve.”

“After 2025, the cost and losses would be lowered to a minimum,” he added, without providing further details.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has called the seizure of Taiwan “inevitable”, also described relations with Taipei as “grim” in a letter to the island’s newly elected main opposition leader last week.