China’s massive military buildup will “complicate” US options should China attack Taiwan, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission chairman Dennis Shea said on Thursday.
Beijing’s greatly increased military capabilities could impact the potential for US intervention, he said.
China will “increasingly challenge” US ability to deter regional conflicts, defend longtime regional allies and partners, and maintain open and secure access in the Asia Pacific, the commission’s annual report to the US Congress said.
“The broad build up of Chinese military capabilities would certainly complicate a US intervention in the case of an attack in a Taiwan scenario,” Shea said at a meeting called to release the report.
He said the commission had always shown “very strong” support for Taiwan and for the sale of US weapons to ensure the nation could meet its self-defense needs.
However, he said it was clear that the military balance had shifted significantly in favor of China.
“A strong Taiwan helps maintain stability across the Taiwan Strait and the US should ensure that Taiwan has what it needs for defense,” commissioner Peter Brookes said.
The commission hoped to “raise the profile” of the situation and make [the] US Congress aware of Taiwan’s security needs, commissioner Katherine Tobin said.
There is “tremendous unease” throughout the region, she said.
China was altering the military balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region in ways that could exacerbate regional hotspots such as Taiwan, the report said.
The US would need to quickly and safely deploy military forces across great distances during a regional conflict, it said.
Taiwan is about 11,265km from San Diego.
“China’s large-scale cybercampaign against the US could further impede US wartime operations,” the report said.
According to the report, China now maintains the largest and most-lethal short-range ballistic missile force in the world, and all of the missiles — about 1,200 of them — could strike targets throughout Taiwan.
“During a conflict with Taiwan, China likely would use its short-range ballistic missiles to strike critical military infrastructure, and command and control nodes, as well as key political and economic centers,” the report said.
It said that China would likely fire large salvos from multiple directions to “confuse, overwhelm and exhaust” the nation’s ballistic missile defenses.
The report said that China’s ballistic and cruise missiles have the potential to provide the People’s Liberation Army with a decisive military advantage in a regional conflict.
“China now is able to threaten US bases and operating areas throughout the Asia Pacific, including those that it previously could not reach with conventional weapons, such as US forces on Guam,” the report said.
“China’s nuclear force will rapidly expand and modernize over the next five years, providing Beijing with a more extensive range of military and foreign policy options and potentially weakening US extended deterrence, particularly with respect to Japan,” it added.
FORCED LABOR: Customs officials have seized a 11.8 tonne shipment of products made from human hair on suspicion they were produced by people facing human rights abuses Federal authorities in New York City on Wednesday seized a shipment of weaves and other beauty accessories suspected to be made out of human hair taken from people locked inside a Chinese internment camp. US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials said that 11.8 tonnes of hair products worth an estimated US$800,000 were in the shipment. “The production of these goods constitutes a very serious human rights violation, and the detention order is intended to send a clear and direct message to all entities seeking to do business with the United States that illicit and inhumane practices will not be tolerated in
JUST QUESTIONS: Expelled reporter Ai Kezhu said that every member of Southeast Television had complied with the law and had not appeared on any talk shows Two Chinese reporters yesterday left Taiwan after the government revoked their accreditation and ordered them to leave amid a probe into allegations that several Chinese media outlets have set up studios and produced political talk shows in Taiwan. The two reporters — Ai Kezhu (艾珂竹) and Lu Qiang (盧薔) — worked for Fujian Province-based Southeast Television and arrived in Taiwan in December last year. The Mainland Affairs Council has launched an investigation after local media reported that Chinese broadcasters — including China Central Television, Southeast Television and FJTV — had set up studios in Taipei and produced political talk shows. Council Deputy Minister
UPTICK IN NUMBERS: The Taipei deputy mayor said the city has services to assist new immigrants, but has established an office specifically to help those from Hong Kong The Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office today officially opens, where it is to provide humanitarian assistance to Hong Kongers, after Beijing yesterday passed a controversial national security law for the territory. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) expressed dismay over China’s passage of the law, saying that Beijing has broken its pledge to allow Hong Kong to maintain a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years following its handover from the UK. “I feel extremely disappointed [about the law’s passage], which means China did not keep its promise to Hong Kong,” Tsai said in Taipei. Beijing’s “broken promise” also
‘SIGNAL TO ALLIES’: The US Navy’s exercises are not in response to those carried out by China, the commander of the strike group led by the USS ‘Ronald Reagan’ said Two US aircraft carriers were yesterday conducting exercises in the disputed South China Sea, the US Navy said as China also carried out military drills that have been criticized by the US Department of Defense and neighboring states. China and the US have accused each other of stoking tension in the waterway at a time of strained relations over everything from COVID-19 to trade to Hong Kong. The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan were carrying out operations and exercises in the South China Sea “to support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the navy said in a statement. It did not say exactly
RSS