TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan faces a much more urgent military threat from China than generally assumed, former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday (Oct. 27).

Colby served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the Trump administration.

In the piece titled “The Fight for Taiwan Could Come Soon,” he warns that the Biden administration’s assumption that “China represents a serious economic, political and technological challenge to American interests” is not enough. Unless Washington realizes the threat is imminent, it could face war and defeat, he said.

Colby sees three reasons why China should be taken more seriously. Its repeated statements that it is willing to use force against Taiwan and evidence of military drills targeting the country and U.S. forces in the region are the first, he said.

The 25 years China spent modernizing its military resulted in the world’s largest navy, an advanced air force, missile systems, and a satellite network. The development shows that China not only has the ambition to attack Taiwan also has achieved the capability to do so, the Liberty Times quoted Colby as saying.

The third cause for concern is that the communist regime might reason that time for a successful military campaign is running out. “Beijing may think it has an opening to seize the island before the West’s military investments pay off,” Colby said.

The former Pentagon official approves of the Biden administration’s commitment to Taiwan and to Asia but said the U.S. needs to help Taiwan improve its defense system, increase its budget, and strengthen its potential to resist bombings or a blockade by China. He also pointed out that if Taiwan fell, close ally Japan would be the next country to face a threat from China.