DAYS after a four-star United States Air Force general said the US and China could go to war over Taiwan by 2025, a senior Republican lawmaker on Sunday backed the assessment, which Chinese experts believe is aimed at casting a shadow over planned China trips by senior officials from President Joe Biden's administration.

In addition to the intense partisan bickering in the US that is spilling over into the diplomatic arena, experts said China and the US need to be wary of unpredictable adventurism by some hawkish US officials and lawmakers, and stressed the importance of initiating regular dialogues to prevent the two countries from being dragged into a worsening confrontation.