Taiwan should develop its own missile defense capability and offensive forces to forestall any invasion from China, a former Pentagon official said.
"The defense of Taiwan should not begin with the invasion of Taiwan at the beaches," Peter Brookes, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
"I think that Taiwan should consider having offensive forces to fight in the Taiwan Strait," he said.
Brookes suggested that Taiwan improve its air and naval forces so that they can sink Chinese ships approaching Taiwan and mount pre-emptive strikes on Chinese ports and air bases where supplies and troops for any invasion would be preparing.
A key element of such a defense should be F-16 fighter jets equipped with anti-ship weapons, Brookes said, weapons the military does not have at present.
By using such weapons to attack warships and transport ships in the Strait, Taiwan could "interrupt the scope and pace of the invasion force," he said.
"Cobra helicopters cruising the waters could also take out landing craft and destroy transport ships. Up to this point, Taiwan's air force has not had an anti-surface ship mission at all," he said.
But Brookes noted that the Kidd-class destroyers and diesel submarines that US President George W. Bush agreed to sell to Taipei would have deterrent anti-ship and anti-aircraft capabilities.
With China increasing the number of missiles targeting Taiwan across the Strait, Taipei should also alter its weapons development and warfare strategy, said Brooks, who is now director of the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center.
"In the future, the dynamic balance is going to shift in the favor of the PRC," he said.
"I think Taiwan has to move forward on an autonomous missile defense," Brookes said.
"They have this threat on the other side and I think they have to maintain their relative capability. Taiwan has to look across the Strait and see where China is developing its forces and insure that they maintain their security," he said.
He also joined the chorus of voices in Washington that have criticized Taipei's lack of progress in funding the purchase of arms.
"I think Taiwan has to be serious about their own defense, and they have to spend the requisite amount of money to meet their national security needs," he said. "Taiwan has to look at their new security environment because of the tremendous increases in capability of the PLA.
"China has not forsworn the use of force and Taiwan has to have the forces to insure that they have a deterrent posture against the PRC," Brookes said. "Weakness invites provocation."
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