China may be preparing to deal with its dispute over Taiwan through other than political means as it increases its offensive military power, a top Pentagon official said on Wednesday.
"They continue to increase their offensive systems," Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters.
"It looks like they are preparing for something other than a political solution to the Taiwan problem. And we find that disconcerting," he said.
Henry, who spoke at a breakfast session with reporters, said the US was seeking greater openness from China's military.
"One of the things that we think that would help with the Chinese is a degree of transparency," he said, citing China's growing budget and military capabilities.
"It is difficult to know exactly what they are doing," he said.
"What we are looking for is dialogue and transparency so that they can understand what we are doing, we can better understand what they are doing," Henry said.
He did not, however, describe any specific Chinese moves.
A Defense Department official said that Henry was referring to China's long-term military modernization, not any signs of imminent attack.
Beijing appears to be arming itself to prevent Taiwan from declaring formal independence or to compel a settlement on Beijing's terms as well as to counter potential US intervention in a cross-strait crisis, said the official, who declined to be named.
Last week, the Pentagon, in a new long-range strategy blueprint, called China the rising power with the greatest potential to compete militarily with the US.
The strategy calls for new long-range weapons and a greater US naval presence in the Pacific.
Beijing is estimated to have deployed 800 or more short-range ballistic missiles across the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing could use its weapons to try to decapitate Taiwan's military and political leadership and break its will before the US or other nations can intervene, the Pentagon said in another document, the 2005 edition of its annual report to Congress on China's military power.
Washington is eager to head off a showdown with China over Taiwan.
US President George W. Bush vowed in April 2000 to do whatever it took to help Taiwan defend itself if attacked.
Since then, his administration has pressed President Chen Shui-bian (
Earlier on Wednesday in Beijing, China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) condemned a plan floated by President Chen last month to scrap 15-year-old guidelines on unification designed to reduce the risk of provoking conflict with China.
"This demonstrates once again that he is a troublemaker and saboteur of cross-strait relations and peace and stability in Asia," Li Weiyi (
also see story:
Editorial: Managing the art of compromise
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
Taiwanese shares yesterday posted a record daily gain of more than 1,700 points to close above 40,000 points for the first time, led by large-cap semiconductor stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) amid optimism about the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The TAIEX ended up 1,778.51 points, or 4.57 percent, at 40,705.14 after moving between 39,228.39 and 40,755.52, while the New Taiwan dollar closed up NT$0.038 at NT$31.610 per US dollar, ending three consecutive sessions of declines. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$1.007 trillion (US$31.9 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$66.98 billion
RSS