This is John Batcher from a much longer conversation with Bill Gerts of the Washington Times National Security Correspondent

about the threat to Taiwan by the People's Republic of China here at Years' End.

Many voices have said the war was coming 2025, 2026, 2027. I ask Bill if there's

anything in the pattern of provocations of crossing the line of harassment that has changed in the last year.

Any reason to believe that China is moving inching up towards a direct confrontation.

Bill's answer is complex and very convincing.

Here's Bill Gerdes, Washington Times, there's much more later in the show with

Gordon Chang, my colleague.

It's not dramatically difference but it is gradually increasing that is the threat

and I think what set it off was a year ago in August of 2022 when then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited

Taiwan.

We saw the largest war games around Taiwan that the PLA has ever conducted and since that time

they have continued large-scale military provocation and they dial them up and they dial them back according to the political

whims of the Politburo in in in Beijing. I would say that the threat is increasing as the U.S. needs to take greater steps to

resupply forces and to send more. The defense bill that was just finished last week contains 11 billion dollars for

building up forces in the Pacific and it's hoped that that will again become a strong deterrent against the Chinese military threat.

Thank you.