A top US expert on Asian military affairs said that espionage allegations against General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲) of Taiwan were “deadly serious” and potentially “very damaging.”
Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the Washington-based International Assessment and Strategy Center, said it was of “utmost importance” that Taiwan and the US “be far better informed of the range of current and future developing threats from China.”
Other sources directly involved with US intelligence — speaking on the strict condition of anonymity — said there was “concern” in Washington over the allegations, but that the case was too sensitive to comment further at this stage.
Fisher said Lo’s arrest was only the latest espionage exposure in a mostly silent “war” extending back for almost four generations.
“General Lo’s case is deadly serious because he was in charge of what was to be Taiwan’s most important force multiplier in the event of war — the ‘Po Sheng’ or ‘Broad Victory’ digital multi-service command, control and intelligence system,” Fisher said.
“Po Sheng was intended to allow Taiwan’s armed forces to transition into the modern age of true joint warfare where different services can cooperate intimately for faster mission success,” he said.
“It is not difficult to see how the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] would view the ability to turn off or take control of Po Sheng as critical to a range of coercive military scenarios that could lead to political capitulation in Taipei before the start of full attack,” Fisher said.
“What if a future Chinese agent in the presidential palace was able to show a future Taiwan president that the PLA, through its control of Po Sheng, was ordering Taiwan’s armed forces into a massacre? The war might end before it even starts,” he said.
Fisher said Lo’s reported disclosure of Taiwanese communication networks and potentially of details regarding US and Taiwan military communications was also “very damaging” and could be much worse if Taipei and Washington “fail to draw the right lessons.”
For both the US and Taiwan, it is of utmost importance to be far better informed of the range of current and future developing threats from China, he said.
The Chinese “dictatorship wants to extinguish democracy in Taiwan far more than it wants to use Taiwan as a military base, though it wants that too,” he said.
“For Americans, a Communist Chinese takeover of Taiwan would unleash a new Cold War from a foe much more deadly and determined than the Soviet Communist Party. But if Washington can ensure the survival of a free Taiwan, the fact of its existence will undermine the legitimacy of the [Chinese] Communist Party regime and create more pressure for its reform,” Fisher said.
“While there may be some in Washington who will hold up General Lo as evidence that Taiwan is too dangerous to defend, too much of a threat to the security of American technology, that would also be a victory for China,” he said.
“The real lesson is that defending freedom is not easy, and never free. We need to be far better in the spy wars and demand the same from Taipei, but we must also increase our support for Taiwan to prove we value their freedom,” Fisher said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
RSS