China is boosting its combat capabilities to the point at which it could mount a full cross-strait attack in 2020, according to a new report from the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The report added that Chinese leaders have not given up the option of mounting a military invasion of Taiwan to unify it with “the Chinese motherland.”
The report was sent to the legislature yesterday.
Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) is scheduled to formally deliver it today in a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
China has been developing and deploying various new high-end weapons, as well as advanced cyberattack and defense technologies, as it builds up its combat capabilities to reach an invasion level by 2020, the report said.
The high-end weapons include various types of reconnaissance satellites, the newest type of stealth combat aircraft, various types of unmanned aircraft systems, new ballistic missiles, new aircraft carriers, as well as research and engineering for new nuclear-powered submarines, the report said.
It also said that the ground forces of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are deploying new types of attack helicopters (WZ-10s and WZ-19s), a new design of Type 99G battle tanks weighing 55 tonnes and a new type of light tank that weighs 30 tonnes and offers improved mobile flexibility.
The Chinese military threat has not diminished and China remains the greatest source of armed conflict for the Republic of China (ROC), the report said.
It quotes Chinese leaders on the reasons for Beijing’s increase in defense spending and boosting its military capability — that they are needed to guard against “splittist factions” making moves to interfere with the peace development across the Taiwan Strait.
By conducting combined forces training with amphibious landing exercises, expanding its naval fleet’s far-sea patrol missions, rotating troop units at positions directly across the Strait and elevating its military strength and combat ability, China will be capable of mounting a full-scale military attack on Taiwan by 2020, under the guise of “subduing Taiwan independence factions and unifying the Motherland,” the report said.
It also pointed out that neighboring countries are boosting their military capabilities and defense spending in response to China’s moves, although this has a trickle-down effect of constricting the ROC’s security operations zone.
In the face of a military imbalance skewed in China’s favor, Taiwan’s military is adhering to a concept of innovative, asymmetric warfare, in line with national defense policies, the report said.
To maintain adequate defense capabilities, Taiwan is developing its own weaponry even as it continues trying to buy arms from other countries, it said.
To better control military movements around Taiwan’s territorial space, the military is strengthening its air and sea reconnaissance capabilities and early-warning systems by deploying P-3C marine patrol aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems and integrating the helicopter fleets of the three branches of the military, the report added.
On the issue of China’s cyberthreat, the report said the military must strengthen its national information security mechanism, establish critical infrastructure protection, support the information security industry and cultivate cybersecurity personnel.
The military has estimated that between next year and 2019, the number of military personnel would be reduced to between 170,000 and 190,000, the report said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique