Key Points and Summary – Retired PLA Lt. Gen. He Lei told Phoenix TV that China could “resolve the Taiwan issue” using conventional weapons, while reiterating Beijing’s preference for peaceful reunification and a self-defense nuclear posture.
-His remarks came at the Xiangshan forum as China stresses joint, system-of-systems operations.
-Regional tensions rose with reports of a new Philippine forward base in Batanes, a strategic chokepoint near Taiwan; President Marcos Jr. said Manila couldn’t stay out of a Taiwan clash.
-In the U.S., President Trump claimed Xi Jinping promised no invasion during his tenure. Beijing called Taiwan an internal matter and affirmed peaceful aims—backed by force if needed.
Retired Chinese General Makes Some Noice on Taiwan Issue
A retired Chinese general made some jaw-dropping comments this week about Taiwan.
According to the South China Morning Post, which cited an interview on Phoenix Television, Lt. Gen. He Lei said this week that China’s conventional weapons are sufficient to “resolve the Taiwan issue,” although peaceful reunification remains China’s “preferred option.”
The implication was that nuclear weapons would not be necessary for China to defeat Taiwan, if it ever decides it wants to take the island nation by force.
The former general reiterated that the country’s nuclear policy has never changed, and that its nuclear weapons are “entirely for the purpose of self-defense.”
The general is the former vice president of the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, and the interview took place on the sidelines of Beijing’s Xiangshan military forum.
“We do not wish to possess weapons for attacking Taiwan. What we seek is a peaceful resolution,” the former general said at the forum.
“Should it become necessary to resolve the Taiwan issue by force, or to employ non-peaceful means, [we] would not require extensive high-end weapons; conventional weapons would be sufficient,” he said, per SCMP. He added that China is prioritizing “joint operations, system-based warfare and overall combat capabilities.”
In a different interview at the same conference, this time with CGTN, the former general stated that the Philippines’ “provocations in the South China Sea [are] bound to fail.”
According to reports this week, satellite imagery revealed the existence of a new forward-operating base in Batanes, the Philippines. Per Newsweek, this base is located at a “strategic chokepoint” which “would likely come into play in the event of a conflict involving China-claimed Taiwan.”
The new base will “serve as a hub for territorial defense, maritime domain awareness, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” the Philippine Navy’s Northern Luzon Command said in a statement translated by Newsweek.
“If there is a confrontation over Taiwan between China and the United States, there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it, simply because of our physical geographic location,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Firstpost in August.
Trump and Taiwan
Back in mid-August, according to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprising declaration. Trump claimed Chinese President Xi Jinping had promised him that China would not invade Taiwan for as long as Trump is president.
Trump made the claim during a televised Fox News interview.
“I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” the president said in the Fox interview.
China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait and into the South China Sea during sea trials — a step toward formal commissioning. pic.twitter.com/GryIYvm2c2
— China Perspective (@China_Fact) September 13, 2025
In response, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry declared that the Taiwan question was an “internal” matter.
“The Taiwan issue is purely an internal affair of China, and how to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at the time. “We will do our utmost to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification. But we will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China in any way.”
A 2016 Controversy
In late 2016, after Trump was elected to his first term but before he took office, he made a call to the president of Taiwan.
China’s foreign ministry objected to the call, which, according to CNN, “overturned decades of diplomatic protocol.” Subsequent reporting revealed that former Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, who at the time was 93 years old, had lobbied on behalf of Taiwan for the call.
J-20. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Trump, despite a great deal of tension with China throughout his first term and so far in his second, has never seriously challenged the One China doctrine again.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Jim
September 20, 2025 at 12:49 pm
I can certainly see why Trump wants the Taiwan issue to stay quiet during his term in office.
What would be best is a proactive negotiation with China to cut a deal on Taiwan, even though, China insists it’s nobody’s business and strictly an internal Chinese matter.
If it was only that, I would sleep easier, but it’s not, and everybody knows it.
I don’t see Trump being proactive on Taiwan. Too much political heavy lifting here in the States. He doesn’t have the persuasive skill set necessary to take on the entrenched Taiwan lobby.
And, frankly it’s the raison d’être for much of our military force posture in the Western Pacific and along the East Asian coastline.
None of our East Asian allies want war over Taiwan nor does Australia or even the Philippines, what they want is their Exclusive Economic Zone respected by China, not war over Taiwan.
China doesn’t want war over Taiwan. What they want is peaceful reunification, but will use force if necessary.
Too many analysts see Taiwan as a bright shiny object to kick around and to extrapolate possible war scenarios out of.
(Even though, no matter how many computer simulated war games are conducted… the computer spits out the same answer… the United States loses or is forced to resort to tactical nukes to pull our chestnuts out of the fire…. that’s the dirty little secret.)
What about getting the best deal for an autonomous, self-governing province of China which retains its democratic features, maintains its contacts and business relationships with American citizens, while acknowledging China is sovereign in all international matters.
Get Taiwan squared away and the pathway for a peaceful & stable East Asia stretches out before us instead of the looming Black Swan of cataclysmic war against China.
If Trump had that kind of vision, you could call him the peace president… but he doesn’t… he’s the transactional president at best.
So, Trump will kick the can down the road. Will China be content to kick the can down the road… how long will can kicking be okay for China?
Nobody knows.