Picture shows separation
A few days ago, 10 bombers and other aircraft from the Chinese air force flew close to the air defense identification zone east of Taiwan.
Although the Ministry of National Defense reported the incident the following day, a picture of an Indigenous Defense Fighter closely following one of the Chinese aircraft shows the determination of our military to safeguard Taiwan’s territory and airspace, and this is appreciated by the Taiwanese public.
As public demands for government transparency are on the rise, the ministry’s past standard response that “we are in control of the situation” no longer satisfies the public concern for and curiosity about national defense matters.
In other words, the recent experience shows that the ministry cannot just stop worrying about an issue because it thinks the situation has been resolved. Instead, it must use such situations as an opportunity to strengthen self-awareness and awareness of who our enemies are in order to strengthen support for national defense matters.
After all, military force is only one link in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “unrestricted warfare” (超限戰) concept. Other parts of the concept are psychological warfare and warfare focused on public opinion, such as “soft” united front tactics, infiltration and division, and creating turmoil in order to achieve their goals without going to war.
These approaches are even more important.
This is why the biggest national security crisis facing Taiwan today is not the strength of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, but rather that the will to defend itself is too weak, which in its turn will affect the evaluation of the situation by other countries and their willingness to help Taiwan defend itself.
In short, there is nothing better than a picture of two military aircraft, one from Taiwan and one from China, to highlight the fact that Taiwan and China are two different countries separated by the Taiwan Strait.
Finally, given the military threat from the PLA, any talk about people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait being one family is nothing but sweet talk hiding malicious intent.
Huang Wei-ping
Kaohisung
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