China has been saber rattling over the past year regarding a possible invasion of Taiwan, but retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Thursday such a move by the world's largest military against the breakaway republic will not be a cakewalk.
"It is absolutely not easy at all," Holt told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "One of the greatest deterrents that the Chinese got to see is what happened to the Russian army last year in Ukraine, and all throughout the year.
"[China] is set up largely the same way [as Russia] on a command-and-control basis. They don't have an expectation of success at this particular point in time."
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $619 million worth of arms sales to Taiwan, including missiles for F-16 fighter jets previously purchased from the U.S. and equipment to support the missiles. But Holt said in addition to U.S. military aid, Taiwan is capable in its own right to defend itself and inflict damage on the Chinese.
"The response from Taiwan on them would be dramatic," Holt said. "Taiwan has its own weapons, not just the ones that we have sold them. They have very, very high-end missile technology that could hit China in a way that would profoundly change the country."
Holt said China, because of the sheer size of the People's Liberation Army, could do significant damage, but at what cost?
"The [Chinese Communist Party's] rule in any engagement is that the CCP still exists at the end of the war," Holt said. "Taiwan has technology that could get at the two most significant military targets that China presents, that is the Three Gorges Dam and the Forbidden City or Beijing itself.
"With those targets at risk, the Chinese and the PLA would have a heck of an uphill challenge militarily to see how they would get through it cleanly if they were to take Taiwan."
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