‘Next 12 months’: Australia facing ‘very big decisions’ on Taiwan, Jacqui Lambie warns

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Army veteran and independent senator Jacqui Lambie has delivered a stark warning about the likelihood of conflict on Australia’s doorstep in the “next 12 months”.

Australia will “have to make some very big decisions in the next 12 months” about Taiwan, crossbencher Jacqui Lambie has warned after Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed “complete reunification”.

“We’ve already heard from Xi Jinping that he intends to take Taiwan next year – what does that look like?” Senator Lambie told the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“Do we go in and help Taiwan if that happens? Or do we not? Or we sit back and we just have to say we can’t get involved?

The comments came after Mr Xi this week declared the Taiwan question an “unwavering historical mission” facing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The complete reunification of the motherland must be realised, and it will certainly be realised.”

Earlier in the month, China staged unannounced drills in which it encircled Taiwan using warships as dozens of military aircraft buzzed around the democratically self-governing island.

While Beijing has ramped up war games around Taiwan in recent years, the latest were unusually secretive and covered a much larger area of the Western Pacific.

A conflict in the Taiwan Strait would deal a massive blow to crucial trade routes that Australia relies on to ship iron ore, coal and gas.

It would also paralyse Taiwan’s world-leading semiconductor production while inflicting enormous pain on the Chinese economy, which would in turn place further pressure on the global economy.

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