China has been upgrading its major weapons systems and building up the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as part of its goal to have a strong enough fighting force to attack Taiwan by 2020, according to the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) 2015 National Defense Report released yesterday.
Despite improved relations and increased links between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in recent years, the Chinese government still prepares for a cross-strait conflict and is enhancing the PLA’s ability to conduct large-scale warfare and to deter foreign forces from intervening in any invasion, the biennal report said.
“China believes foreign interference would be its biggest concern if it attacks Taiwan,” the report said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s armed forces would continue to bolster their defense capabilities and naval patrol missions to assert the nation’s sovereignty over the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea, both cited as potential conflict areas, the report said.
A robust military strength is needed in these South China Sea islands to buttress nation’s territorial sovereignty and preserve its maritime rights and interests, along with maintaining freedom of navigation for transit passage in international waters, it said.
China’s annual military budget has been growing by double-digit rates over the past decade, focusing on naval and air forces to project Chinese military power in the region, the report said.
Due to China’s rapid weapons build-up and modernization of its combat capability, the cross-strait military imbalance is widening, causing concern in neighboring countries, the report said.
China has dramatically upgraded its early warning system, command and control operation, battleground reconnaissance, airplane and vessel navigation, communications encryption and precise striking capability, it said.
The PLA has also sped up the army’s mechanization, upgraded its information technology and live fire drills, strengthened airborne transportation and strategic research and development, and now has a “triphibious” landing combat capability that could “seize the outlying islands” of Taiwan, the report said.
The report also questioned China’s reported military spending, which it said was significantly understated.
Also covered in the report is the government’s efforts to develop an all-volunteer military composed mainly of career professionals.
To help raise public awareness of the government efforts to maintain national security, the report’s release was accompanied by a comic book version and a board game for youngsters, ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS