China's military is escalating pressure on Taiwan in what the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific describes as "dress rehearsals for forced unification," marking a stark shift in the Pentagon's public assessment of Beijing's intentions. In his first posture statement to Congress, Adm. Sam Paparo, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) increased its coercive activities around Taiwan by 300% in 2024. These operations, Paparo said, were no longer limited to gray-zone tactics like...
