China Pushing Things To "Boiling Point": Admin Says Pentagon Alarmed Over Taiwan Tyler Durden Fri, 12/04/2020 - 12:25 CNN anchor and the network's chief national security corresponding issued a surprising and alarming statement on Thursday. Jim Sciutto https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1334569298786914307!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");: As Chinese military activity around Taiwan continues to ramp up, a senior administration official tells me, "We are watching very closely and would be ready for anything including a grave miscalculation by the PRC. We’re definitely watching them." Illustrative file image of Chinese nuclear submarine, via Reuters/VOA He added at a moment Trump continues to chip away at Beijing through a series of unprecedented 'blacklisting' measures, as well as new visa restrictions against Communist Party members and their families (which includes tens of millions of Chinese citizens total) that American defense officials think geopolitical flashpoints involving Chinese 'aggression' are about to boil over. "Sooner or later they’re willing to push things to a boiling point over Taiwan as they did in Hong Kong and on border with India," the official is cited further as saying to CNN's Sciutto. "It’s coming." Meanwhile, the Pentagon is reportedly proceeding with plans to establish (or in a sense resurrect) a new 1st Fleet for the US Navy to better monitor the expansive Indian Ocean region and ultimately deter China. Watch this space: As Chinese military activity around Taiwan continues to ramp up, a senior administration official tells me, “We are watching very closely and would be ready for anything including a grave miscalculation by the PRC. We’re definitely watching them.” 1/ — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1334569298786914307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Currently the Navy's 7th Fleet is responsible for covering a massive stretch of ocean from where it is based in Yokosuka, Japan. This includes the maritime expanse from waters corresponding to where the India-Pakistan border is, all the way to Hawaii. Last month the Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite said the DoD is working on it under his direction. "We can't just rely on the 7th Fleet in Japan," Braithwaite said at the time, and crucially added, "We have to look to our other allies and partners like Singapore, like India, and actually put a numbered fleet where it would be extremely relevant if, God forbid, we were to ever to get in any kind of a dust-up."