A new study of Taiwan’s maritime security calls on the US to support the nation’s military modernization and help it interact with the armed forces of other friendly nations.
“Taiwan’s security is inextricably linked to the sea,” said Dean Cheng (成斌), research fellow in the Asian Studies Center at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation.
“The nation’s economic livelihood, as well as its national security, requires that Taipei secure the surrounding waters and have access to global sea-lanes,” he wrote in the 14-page paper published this week.
Cheng argues that Taiwan occupies a key position in the so-called “first island chain” that separates China from the open Pacific Ocean and serves as an essential “cork in the bottle” limiting the Chinese navy and air force from reaching into the central Pacific. He urges the US to sell Taiwan modern warships as they are retired from the US Navy. In particular he calls for the sale of Spruance-class destroyers and early versions of the Aegis cruiser to improve Taiwan’s seagoing air-defense capabilities.
Cheng also called for the US to complete its review of Taiwan’s request for a submarine design phase in a weapons procurement plan and allow the program to proceed. Alternatively, he said, US contractors should be allowed to explore direct commercial sales of submarines to Taiwan.
“Isolation is one of the greatest problems confronting Taiwan’s military,” Cheng said. “Due to Chinese pressure, the Republic of China [ROC] military has only limited interaction with foreign militaries... It not only lacks combat experience, but also has not enjoyed the cross-fertilization opportunities typical of other US allies,” he said.
“The US should serve as a bridge for the Taiwan military to interact with foreign military forces,” he adds.
Should Beijing mount an invasion of Taiwan, the initial assault would depend on its navy’s amphibious assets, Cheng said. However, at this time, China has only one large landing ship dock, about 100 medium landing ships and a small number of air-cushion vehicles, Cheng said. Its huge merchant and fishing fleets would only be of real use once a beachhead had been established.
“Thus, at least in the short term, China’s ability to launch an amphibious assault against Taiwan remains limited,” Cheng wrote. Nevertheless, US intervention would be essential to a successful defense, he added.
“Taiwan must be able to hold out for some time in order to ensure that the US can intervene. Simply to concentrate US forces would take a minimum of several days,” the researcher said.
“This becomes more pressing and more extended as China’s anti-access and area-denial capabilities improve. The US is likely to have to concentrate its forces in order to roll back China’s defenses, which may extend to weeks,” he wrote.
Taiwan will only win US support if it demonstrates a capacity to defend itself, Cheng said.
“Despite the warming of cross-strait relations, China continues to make considerable preparation for the possibility of military action against Taiwan,” Cheng said. However, if China is to threaten to invade Taiwan successfully, China needs to be able to secure the airspace over the Taiwan Strait and also to clear the waterway of any significant Taiwanese naval forces, including mine-laying assets, according to the researcher.
Submarines, Cheng said, would play a major role in keeping China at bay.
Cheng argues that any successful defense of the nation, whether from blockade or invasion, would rely heavily on Taiwan’s navy. As a result, the Taiwanese navy must be capable of surviving an attack, regardless of China’s numerical superiority, according to the researcher.
“A technologically obsolescent navy cannot hope to meet such a challenge, especially as [China’s] People’s Liberation Army continues to modernize at a rapid pace,” he said.
“It is therefore necessary that Taiwan obtain up-to-date systems and engage in modern training, which will require the help of the US,” Cheng said.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS