China continues to target Taiwan for attack and invasion in the event of conflict, and Beijing is likely to declare a South China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the near future to bolster its claim on the islets and reefs in the region, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said.
According to MND reports released yesterday, Beijing convened high-level meetings to re-evaluate its cross-strait policies following last year’s Sunflower movement and related protests by Taiwanese against the government’s move to force a cross-strait service trade agreement with China through the legislature.
The report said China is concerned about the outcome of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections in January next year, and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has therefore conducted a series of military drills in recent months simulating an invasion of Taiwan, known as “Operation Decapitation,” in which airborne paratroopers and special forces practiced descending on the Presidential Office Building in Taipei City in a rapid assault.
Photo: Lo Tian-pin, Taipei Times
Outlining China’s plans for attack against Taiwan, the report said Beijing would first use a combination of military threats and actions to intimidate Taiwanese, then blockade major ports of the nation’s frontier islands, such as Kinmen, Matsu and other outlying maritime territories.
After that, PLA missiles and other firepower would be deployed to attack Taiwan’s major military and political headquarters, along with telecommunications infrastructure, which would be followed by mounting airborne and amphibious landings for an invasion.
The report said the possible scenarios for a Beijing attack could arise from situations such as Taiwan’s declaration of independence or heading unequivocally toward independence, acquisition of nuclear weapons, internal political turmoil, delaying of dialogue on cross-strait negotiations toward unification, foreign forces interfering in Taiwan’s internal affairs, or deployment of foreign troops in the country.
Photo: Lo Tian-pin, Taipei Times
The ministry said Taiwan’s armed forces are capable of defending the nation, and would undertake drills to simulate a defense of the Presidential Office Building and the greater Taipei area, in what is dubbed “Counter-Operation Decapitation,” during the yearly Han Kuang military exercises, which are scheduled to take place next week.
In the past few days, marine amphibious units together with other special forces troops have been seen conducting drills along coastal regions and shores of the Tamsui River (淡水河) in northern Taiwan, while the military police brigade tasked with maintaining the security of the Presidential Office Building have also been training to defend against a potential attack.
The report concluded that China’s island-building spree in the South China Sea has completely changed the strategic structure in the region, adding that China has stepped up militarization and to claim sovereignty while exploring deposits of oil, hydrocarbons and other natural resources.
China has begun reclamation work on seven reefs and is undertaking construction of a seaport, airport runways and other infrastructure facilities, the report said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The US Department of State yesterday criticized Beijing over its misrepresentation of the US’ “one China” policy in the latest diplomatic salvo between the two countries over a bid by Taiwan to regain its observer status at the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to publicly misrepresent U.S. policy,” Department of State spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter. “The United States does not subscribe to the PRC’s ‘one China principle’ — we remain committed to our longstanding, bipartisan one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Joint Communiques, and
FATES LINKED: The US president said that sanctions on Russia over Ukraine must exact a ‘long-term price,’ because otherwise ‘what signal does that send to China?’ US President Joe Biden yesterday vowed that US forces would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack in his strongest statement to date on the issue. Beijing is already “flirting with danger,” Biden said following talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, in which the pair agreed to monitor Chinese naval activity and joint Chinese-Russian exercises. Asked if Washington was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, he replied: “Yes.” “That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said. “We agreed with the ‘one China’ policy, we signed on to it ... but the idea that it can be
INFORMATION LEAKED: Documents from Xinjiang purportedly showed top leaders in Beijing calling for a forceful crackdown and even orders to shoot to kill Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday held a videoconference with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet as she visited Xinjiang during a mission overshadowed by fresh allegations of Uighur abuses and fears she is being used as a public relations tool. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been accused of detaining more than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the region as part of a years-long crackdown the US and lawmakers in other Western nations have labeled a “genocide.” China denies the allegations. Bachelet was expected to visit the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar on a six-day tour. The US
SUBTLE? While Biden said the US policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ on Taiwan had not changed, the group targeted China and Russia without naming them Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the US yesterday warned against attempts to “change the status quo by force,” as concerns grow about whether China could invade Taiwan. The issue of Taiwan loomed over a leadership meeting in Tokyo of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) nations — the US, Japan, Australia and India — who stressed their determination to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region in the face of an increasingly assertive China, although Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the group was not targeting any one country. The four leaders said in a joint statement issued after their talks