China’s massive military modernization program is dominated by preparations for a conflict with Taiwan and the possibility of US intervention, a Pentagon report said on Friday.
The report, which was issued in Washington, said that Beijing is ready to conduct missile attacks and precision strikes against the nation’s air defense systems, air bases, radar sites, missile silos, space assets and communications facilities.
All of this in an attempt to “degrade Taiwan’s defenses, neutralize Taiwan’s leadership or break the public’s will to fight.”
Photo: Reuters
In its annual report to the US Congress on China’s military and security developments over the previous year, the Pentagon said Beijing continues to pursue a long-term, comprehensive military modernization program designed to improve its armed forces capacity to fight short-duration, high-intensity regional conflicts.
“Preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait remains the focus and primary driver of China’s military investment,” it said.
The report added: “China is increasing its emphasis on preparations for contingencies other than Taiwan, such as contingencies in the East China Sea and South China Sea.”
According to the report, China’s strategy incorporates persuasion and coercion to deter or repress moves toward Taiwanese independence.
Despite a warming in cross-strait relations during the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), “there have been no signs that China’s military posture opposite Taiwan has changed significantly,” it said.
The report said that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has developed and deployed military capabilities to coerce Taiwan or to attempt an invasion if necessary.
It said that China appears to be prepared to defer the use of force as long as it believes that unification remains possible in the long term and the costs of conflict outweigh the benefits.
If the decision is made to use force against Taiwan, the report said that China might first signal its readiness and then build up a force “to optimize the speed of engagement over strategic deception.”
Another option would be for China to sacrifice overt, large-scale preparations in favor of surprise to force rapid military and political resolution before other countries could respond, it said, adding that maritime and air blockades are also a possibility.
“China might use a variety of disruptive, punitive or lethal military actions in a limited campaign against Taiwan, likely in conjunction with overt and clandestine economic and political activities,” the report said.
It added: “Such a campaign could include computer network or limited kinetic attacks against Taiwan’s political, military and economic infrastructure to induce fear in Taiwan and degrade the populace’s confidence in the Taiwan leadership.”
“Similarly, PLA special operations forces could infiltrate Taiwan and conduct attacks against infrastructure or leadership targets,” it said.
The report said that the PLA is capable — with few overt preparations — of launching an invasion of small Taiwan-held islands in the South China Sea, such as the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) or Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島).
A PLA invasion of medium-sized, better defended outlying islands such as Matsu or Kinmen is within its capabilities, but would risk galvanizing pro-independence sentiment and generating international opposition.
Large-scale amphibious invasion of Taiwan proper would involve “significant political and military risk” and the report indicates that scenario is unlikely.
Nevertheless, the report says that the PLA Air Force has stationed a large number of advanced aircraft within range of Taiwan, providing them with significant capability to conduct air superiority and ground attack operations.
At the same time, China’s long-range air defense systems provide “a strong layer of defense against a counterattack.”
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS