Wang Hongguang (王洪光), former deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region and retired Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lieutenant general, threatened that China could “take Taiwan within 100 hours.”
Former Taiwanese deputy minister of national defense Lin Chong-pin (林中斌) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Global Times that “Taiwan’s armed forces could only resist China’s ‘acupuncture tactics’ for 48 to 72 hours.”
Ministry of National Defense officials and National Defense University Graduate Institute of Chinese Military Affairs Studies academics should refute these claims and reassure the public.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party returned to power, China has continued its verbal intimidation and saber rattling, attempting to cause social unrest in Taiwan. In particular, its psychological intimidation is becoming increasingly intensive, including publishing exaggerated reports about China’s aircraft carrier drills, and spreading rumors and false information through its official media to attack military morale in Taiwan. Taiwanese must be vigilant.
The threat to national security also includes threats from within the nation. In particular, a small number of Taiwanese have problems differentiating between friend and foe. A few retired generals have claimed that “the Taiwanese army and the Chinese army are both Chinese armies.”
There are also differences in national identity. A group of retired generals who went to listen to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) talk in Beijing could be accused of spying for China or selling them national defense and military secrets.
If President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration do not implement strict and effective controls and punishments to tackle such treasonous behavior, the problem could become increasingly serious.
The Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China presented by the US Department of Defense to the US Congress in recent years have assessed and predicted that the quality and quantity of China’s military would surpass Taiwan’s some time between 2010 to 2020.
However, the reports have also suggested that if Taiwan’s air force and other military equipment can be significantly improved year-on-year, and if the shortcomings in the implementation of the volunteer military recruiting policy can be addressed, Taiwan could maintain a deterrent force.
As long as the government continues to invest in asymmetric warfare projects to boost the research and development of missile defense capabilities, accelerate the domestic construction of military vessels and aircraft as well as other major national defense construction while the public express a will to defend Taiwan, China would have to pay a high and painful price if it were to attack Taiwan, whether by sea, land or air.
Yao Chung-yuan is a former senior deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s Strategic Planning Department.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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