A US congressional committee was told on Wednesday that Taiwan needed more advanced fighter aircraft and diesel submarines to defend itself against a possible attack by China.
Testifying before the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Larry Wortzel, a specialist on the Chinese and Taiwanese military, said that despite a notable improvement in relations across the Taiwan Strait, Beijing continues to insist on its right to use force should Taiwan move toward independence.
“The cross-strait military balance increasingly favors China. Beijing has deployed over 1,100 short-range ballistic missiles opposite the island. In my view, Taiwan’s most pressing need is for new or modernized fighter aircraft,” Wortzel said.
Wortzel was speaking at a committee briefing on “China’s behavior and its impact on US interests” held on the first day of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) state visit to Washington.
Republican Representative David Rivera described Taiwan as “a bastion of democracy surrounded by a fortress of tyranny.”
NEW OR EXISTING
Wortzel said the big question was whether to sell Taipei F-16C/D aircraft, which have a long range and could be used for deep strikes inside China “if their [Taiwan’s] military chose to do that” or modernize the existing F-16A/B aircraft that Taiwan already possesses.
He said that he had talked with aviation engineers who thought that with the addition of brand new avionics, radar and targeting equipment, the A/Bs could be converted into “very capable aircraft.”
“They need the aircraft and I think they have to have that need addressed,” Wortzel said.
Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat, asked if there was any reason to believe that Taiwan was not capable of defending itself in case of an invasion.
“I don’t think that is the issue,” Wortzel said. “The issue is how capable would they be in doing it. They would have a hard time defending against 1,100 ballistic missiles. The missiles would do a lot of damage. They would be hard pressed if there were massive special operations insertions into Taiwan to disrupt the infrastructure.”
He said Taiwan could do more to strengthen airfields and storage facilities.
“If there is one thing they could do to immediately improve their capabilities, it would be to link all of their ground, naval, air assets and missiles so they could take part in cooperative target engagements,” Wortzel said. “They are developing their own multiple launch rocket systems and could probably use assistance with precision guided rounds.”
SUBMARINES
Asked about submarines, Wortzel said: “It’s a very difficult problem ... It’s a problem for the US Navy because we really don’t want to work on, or produce, diesel submarines, but they need these submarines.”
“The United States could get Costa Rica to buy a dozen submarines from Germany and then transfer them and it wouldn’t hurt anybody — if the Germans would look the other way on the re-transfer,” he said.
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
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
STREAMLINED: The dedicated funding would allow the US to transfer equipment to Taiwan when needed and order upgraded replacements for stockpiles, a source said The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense appropriations bill totaling US$838.7 billion, of which US$1 billion is to be allocated to reinforcing security cooperation with Taiwan and US$150 million to replace defense articles provided to the nation. These are part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act, which the US House yesterday passed with 341 votes in favor and 88 against. The act must be passed by the US Senate before Friday next week to avoid another government shutdown. The US House Committee on Appropriations on Monday unveiled the act, saying that it allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative
RSS