Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed his calls for the "reunification" of China and Taiwan on Sunday during the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. 

"We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary," Xi said. 

China is "determined to pursue reunification on a much faster timeline," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.

"So, now it's sort of pretty clear that the Chinese are thinking seriously of making a move. So, why aren't we acting like it?" says Elbridge Colby, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in the Defense Department. 

"Why aren't we acting on a national mobilization effort precisely to avoid a war? Because once we get into a war, it's definitely going to be far more expensive and costly in terms of lives and resources. And it may be too late if we wait that long," Colby says.

Colby joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss Xi's comments, his recent article in Time magazine about why the U.S. should defend Taiwan, and what message could be sent if the U.S. is not able to successfully deter China from invading Taiwan. 

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