What if China Attacked California?
While America is celebrating perversion during pride month, other nations on earth are still remembering that the game always played on planet earth is King of the Hill.
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Last month, the commander of Edwards Air Force Base, California, talked openly about the need for local leaders to prepare for a Pearl Harbor-like strike on his base and others inside the United States.
Edwards Air Force Base is located in the Mojave desert about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Wickert referenced the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack in his briefing, the press release said, drawing parallels to warnings about Pearl Harbor’s vulnerability prior to the attack.
Such frank talk about the possible impact on a community around an American military base, in the event of a war with China over Taiwan, is rare.
Notably, Wickert’s comments appear to be fully endorsed and approved by the Department of Defense, signaling a changing attitude.
In January 2023, Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander of Air Mobility Command, which controls much of the air transport and air refueling capacity of the Department of Defense, said in a letter to his command, “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025. [Chinese leader Xi Jinping] secured his third term and set his war council in October 2022. Taiwan’s presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason. United States’ presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a distracted America. Xi’s team, reason, and opportunity are all aligned for 2025.”
Minihan wrote the letter to prepare his command for conflict. The Department of Defense quickly replied at the time, “These comments are not representative of the department’s view on China.”
A Wake-up Call for Community Leaders
Wickert’s audience consisted of local community leaders, leadership of critical infrastructure providers to the base, and members of Congress.
Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.) opened the briefing by discussing the necessity for stateside military installations to stay operational in the face of complex catastrophes, including military actions by adversaries.
Wickert compared Edwards, a massive facility focused on testing, research, and development, to its counterpart in the Chinese Air Force.
He presented intelligence data on the rapid modernization and “staggering” growth of the Chinese army, the press release said. Using Google Earth imagery, he pointed to Dingxin Test and Training Base in the Gobi Desert, China’s equivalent of Edwards AFB. “The base sits next to a full-scale two-dimensional replica of Taiwan’s Taichung International Airport,” according to the release.
“It’s kind of clear what their intention is,” Wickert said.
Wickert cited Xi’s 2013 instructions to the Chinese military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. He made the connection with the local community, stressing “the Antelope Valley’s crucial role in national defense and deterrence,” particularly Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider production line at nearby Plant 42, and the aircraft’s test and development facilities at Edwards.
