Foreign academics yesterday urged Taiwan to boost its military power to respond to China’s rapidly growing military prowess and implement strategies to curb its attempts at gaining dominance over the region.
China has been vastly expanding its military after its fiasco in the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996, in which it was forced to end its missile “tests” targeting Taiwan after the US decided to defend Taiwan by dispatching a carrier battle group (CVBG) to the Taiwan Strait, Japanese congressman Akihisa Nagashima, who formerly served as Japan’s deputy minister of defense, told an international symposium in Taipei hosted by the Taiwan National Security Institute.
To acquire the ability to counter US carriers, China has since 1997 built a fleet of nuclear submarines loaded with anti-ship missiles, greatly increased the range and accuracy of its missiles, and developed fighter jets that are on par with US F-16s and F/A-18s, while increasing its defense budget by 6.2 times, Nagashima said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“The rapid military expansion raises the question: If the same situation in the 1996 Taiwan Missile Crisis happens again, will the US still be able to boldly deploy a CVBG like it did back then?” Nagashima said.
Given China’s growing military and economic prowess, geostrategic analysts have expressed concern over a potential “transition of power” between the US and China, in which case the stance of Taiwan — which occupies a crucial strategic position as the center of the first island chain — would play a pivotal role, he said.
The potential transition of power would also affect Japan, which China perceives as a economic and military threat and has been trying to isolate since the 1990s, mainly by propagandizing about Japan’s wrongs during the World War II, Nagashima said.
Citing the archipelagic defense strategy created by Center for Strategic Budgetary Assessment distinguished senior fellow Andrew Krepinevich, whereby the defense forces of Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia form a “dynamic defense/deterrence force” to provide anti access/area denial capabilities against China, Nagashima said that for Taiwan to be capable of successfully executing the defense strategy, it must increase public awareness about national defense; integrate its combat skills on land, at sea, in the air, in space, as well as cyberspace; and form a deterrent force with the US.
Former AIT director William Stanton told the symposium that US-China relations would likely continue to fray due to US President Donald Trump’s hope that China would help Washington deter North Korea from conducting nuclear and missile tests and China’s reluctance to put sufficient pressure on North Korea to halt those programs.
Meanwhile, the US has imposed sanctions on some Chinese firms doing business with North Korea that could have helped advance the nation’s nuclear programs, he said.
However, any erosion in US-China relations would not necessarily bode well for Taiwan, as Beijing might “take it out” on Taiwan by increasing measures to terrorize or isolate President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, he said, adding that US economic sanctions against China could have unintended negative consequences for the nation’s economy.
The US would have no choice but to increase its support for Taiwan through arms, trade and diplomacy, Stanton said.
“The more unstable East Asia is, the more the US should value Taiwan’s critical geostrategic importance,” he said.
Stanton said Taiwan should veer away from the all-voluntary military service system, which would reduce the nation’s military strength and capacity to mobilize.
It is critical that Taiwan increase its defense budget, review and revise personnel requirements of its defense and reserve forces, and continue to adopt more severe laws to counter China’s espionage and cyberattacks, he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS