WATCH: Fmr. General Claims CCP’s Xi is “Readying…for War”

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” to discuss geopolitics and what’s in the foreign policy pipeline for 2023, former general and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster predicted Red China would, under Premier Xi Jinping, finally make its move on the island of Taiwan, the Republic of China. Emphasizing the possible imminence of that attack, McMaster added that he thinks Xi is preparing the Chinese people “for war.”

Watch that here:

As you can hear in the clip. McMaster said that he thinks it is clear that Red China plans to invade the Republic of China, that the preparations for that attack are underway, and that the US needs to invest more in defense to successfully deter China from launching such an invasion. In his words:

“It’s a grave threat. I think Xi Jinping means what he says, right? I think we have to be careful not to mirror image, not to fall into the same traps as we did with Vladimir Putin of confirmation bias and optimism bias. Xi Jinping has made quite clear in his statements that he’s going to make, from his perspective, China whole again by subsuming Taiwan.

“And the preparations are underway. So I think what is important is what – what Michele said, deterrence. But good old-fashioned deterrence by denial. I mean, hard power matters. And I think we are underinvested in defense in the United States. China has become increasingly aggressive, not only from an economic and financial perspective and a diplomacy perspective but physically with its military.”

“And what’s really disturbing is I think Xi Jinping is preparing the Chinese people for war. In some of his speeches, he said, well, for us to restore China to national greatness, it’s going to take some – some sacrifices. So I think we have to take it very seriously and act to extend really our – our – our – our power.”

He then also called on America to do more to lead her allies in fighting aggression and threats such as those posed by China abroad, saying that if we do more then our allies will do so as well:

“We talk a lot about relying on our allies, and then maybe if we take a step back, the allies will do more. I think actually the opposite is the case. If Americans just do a little bit more, many of our allies will follow suit and bolster their defense capabilities and capacity as well.”

Whether that’s true, however, remains to be seen. When America provided a firm security blanket for Europe, for instance, countries like Germany consistently and seriously underinvested in defense despite Americans doing a “bit more” from a financial and blood perspective.