US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that he could not discuss — in open session — Chinese military expansion and its impact on Taiwan.
He offered to give some details at a future meeting to be held in secret.
Clapper and US Defense Intelligence Agency Director-General Vincent Stewart were testifying on worldwide security threats.
Photo: AFP
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said that the US’ partners in the Asia-Pacific region, “especially Taiwan,” were growing uneasy about China’s anti-access and area denial strategies, and he asked for an update.
“I can’t go into a great deal of detail here, but the Chinese embarked on an extremely impressive military modernization program across the board,” Clapper said. “Their modernization program is deliberately designed to counteract or thwart what they feel are our strengths. I can certainly go into more detail, if you like, in a classified setting.”
Manchin said he understood that China was quickly expanding its military modernization.
“They are, and they also are getting more and more into the realm of indigenously designing and producing things rather than relying on others, notably the Russians,” Clapper said.
The US Senate hearing was called in part to discuss a Worldwide Threat Assessment for this year, released by the Defense Intelligence Agency.
That document said that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is building a modern military capable of defending China’s “core interests.”
“China views these to include Taiwan, and other contested claims to land and water,” it said. “They are also augmenting more than 1,200 conventional short-range ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan with a limited, but growing number of conventionally armed, medium-range ballistic missiles, including the DF-16, which will improve China’s ability to strike regional targets.”
It said China is deploying growing numbers of DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles and developing a tiered ballistic missile defense system, having successfully tested the upper-tier capability on two occasions.
The assessment said that the South China Sea remains a potential flashpoint and that large-scale Chinese construction there had increased tensions.
China also twice deployed submarines to the Indian Ocean last year, it said.
“The submarines probably conducted area familiarization to form a baseline for increasing China’s power projection,” it said. “China continues production of JIN-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. We expect China to conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrols this year.”
In his opening statement to the committee, Clapper said that “unpredictable instability” is the new normal.
“The year 2014 saw the highest rate of political instability since 1992, the most deaths as a result of state sponsored mass killing since the early 1990s, and the highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons since World War II,” Clapper said.
He said that roughly half of the world’s stable countries are at some risk of instability over the next two years.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS