War-hungry China to be 'forced into military action' against US over Taiwan 'red line'

Dr Sidharth Kaushal, an expert on maritime warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told the Mirror the bold response has come from a leadership that feels backed into a corner. And having been "forced into action", Beijing may decide to ratchet up its response to include even stronger incursions, Dr Kasuhal says. Dr Kaushal told The Mirror: "For them [China], they probably feel to a certain extent, like they've been forced into action by this, that they need to do something otherwise their position on Taiwan, will further and further erode." He added Chinese leaders wouldn't invade Taiwan "on a whim" or in a responsive way, but it would be something they "would do on a premeditated basis having seriously though about the risks they were incurring". "They're not militarily prepared right now. They've got quite a few domestic issues to deal with," Dr Kaushal said.