The top commander of US military forces in the Pacific on Thursday confirmed reports that the Chinese army has been upgrading and deploying larger numbers of missiles across the Taiwan Strait.
“The PLA has focused considerable effort on building up its integrated air defense capabilities and has deployed an increasing number of upgraded Russian SA-20 PMU 2 along the Taiwan Strait,” Admiral Robert Willard said, confirming earlier reports by a Canadian defense magazine that said China has deployed eight battalions of advanced missile systems in Fujian Province.
Willard also said that Taiwan must someday improve upon its existing fighter jets to keep pace with China’s increasing air power.
Some of China’s other military modernization programs highlighted by Willard’s testimony to the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee include the development of sophisticated shipboard air defense systems as well as supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
Yesterday, media reports in Washington said that some US officials are insisting that China’s buildup of both conventional and nuclear forces is aimed solely at possible conflict with Taiwan.
China’s military forces have also been developing a new submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile capable of reaching the Western US and aims to deploy its own aircraft carrier by 2012, Willard said.
“The PLA’s continued military advancements sustain a trend of shifting the cross-strait military balance in Beijing’s favor,” Willard said. “China continues to develop weapons systems, technologies and concepts of operation that support anti-access and area denial strategies in the [Asia-Pacific] region.”
In response, Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesperson Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said yesterday that the military would continue to monitor such developments and added that it would take “appropriate measures” when necessary, without elaborating.
The comments come after the Taiwanese government has consistently pushed the US to supply it with 66 advanced F-16C/D fighters, an upgrade of its current inventory of F-16A/B fighters.
The jets were not included as part of a US$6.4 billion arms sale announced by US President Obama in January and China has warned against any sales of new F-16s.
While Willard agreed that Taiwan would need to improve its own fighter jet capabilities to counter the fast-growing military imbalance with China, he declined to predict when the US might provide Taiwan with the new jets.
He later told reporters that a decision to sell Taiwan new F-16 jets must be determined by the entire US government.
The issue was underscored in December last year when a Pentagon report said that many of Taiwan’s 400 combat aircraft would not be available to help withstand an attack from China.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee told the Taipei Times that these new developments came as a “slap in the face” to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) stance of building closer ties, including military confidence building measures with China.
“His China policies are a total failure,” said DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲). “Despite all Ma’s rhetoric about warming ties, China is continuing to increase the number of missiles across the Taiwan Strait, further showing that it doesn’t care at all about Taiwan’s interests.”
The president has insisted that China remove all missiles pointed at Taiwan before cross-strait peace talks can take place. One of Ma’s cornerstone policies has been an effort to reduce tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and in previous statements he has urged Beijing to remove its missiles, saying that they give Taiwanese, “a very bad feeling.”
“Well, it looks like all this talk about warming ties, cross-strait foreign affairs detente and reconciliation has been a sham,” DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said. “China’s threat continues to rise and meanwhile our ministry of national defense has become directionless … we should revise our policies immediately.”
Meanwhile, Tsai said that Willard’s testimony should give the government ample reasons to pursue an aggressive weapons modernization campaign, adding that the MND should explore different ways of acquiring the new F-16s and even F-35s, the US’ newest combat fighter jet.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS