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.
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for