‘Make Their Lives Utterly Miserable’: Top US Commander Outlines ‘Hellscape’ Response If China Invades Taiwan

A top U.S. naval commander outlined a “hellscape” American response if China decides to invade Taiwan in an interview with The Washington Post published Monday.

The U.S. maintains a position of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to Taiwan, not committing to whether it would militarily defend the island in the event of a Chinese incursion. But Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, the new chief of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), told the Post in an interview that there is a plan to deter China by ensuring that Beijing understands the “utterly miserable” consequences it could suffer if it does launch an incursion.