China does not seem to be pursuing the amphibious lift capacity that would be necessary for a large-scale invasion of Taiwan, a report presented to US Congress said.
At the same time, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground forces continue to prepare for a Taiwan-related contingency, the report said.
Prepared by the Congressional Research Service and titled The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress, the report was written by Asian affairs analyst Ian Rinehart and released this week.
It said that PLA ground forces have armed attack helicopters and other modern platforms, improved networks that enable real-time data transmission.
It is also continuing to improve its advanced air defense systems and practicing more realistic training exercises, including amphibious landing training, the report said.
“On the other hand, PLA weaknesses in areas like logistics and amphibious lift could render the PLA unable to carry out assigned missions, in particular an invasion of Taiwan,” it said.
“Both air lift and sea lift capacity remain major shortcomings for the PLA, constraining significantly its ability to carry out large-scale power projection operations,” it added.
The report said that over the past two decades, the main focus of the PLA’s military planning and short-term operational readiness has been a potential conflict over Taiwan.
Such planning might also be designed to deter Taiwan from declaring independence, the report said.
According to the report, an invasion of Taiwan would be a “daunting undertaking” for China.
“The potential intervention of the US to defend Taiwan would present enormous challenges for the PLA,” it said.
Rinehart said that China is building a modern and regionally powerful military with a limited, but growing capability for conducting operations away from China’s immediate periphery.
“The question of how the US should respond to China’s military modernization effort is a central issue in US defense planning and foreign policy,” he said.
Rinehart said that many American China-watchers assert that China’s main reason for strengthening the PLA is to ensure the status of Taiwan is resolved on terms favorable to Beijing.
He said that Pentagon and other analysts argue that China’s military modernization was explicitly designed to keep the US military from sending reinforcements to a conflict by controlling access to naval approach routes through a variety of stand-off attacks.
“The PRC does not consider its desire to unify with Taiwan and to consolidate control over islands in the South China Sea as strategically offensive, whereas many in the US and other countries see such ambitions as inherently offensive,” Rinehart said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
RSS