For several years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to use its range of advanced fighter jets to provocatively probe — and even cross — the Taiwan Strait median line. The PLA has also used aerial drones, which it classifies as “strategic weaponry,” to slip into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), although on a less frequent basis.
In October last year, the PLA flew a drone into Taiwan’s southwesterly ADIZ for the first time. Taiwan’s military used radar and ground-to-air missiles to track the uncrewed aircraft.
In March, the PLA used a new type of aerial reconnaissance drone, the Guizhou Soar Dragon, which again flew into Taiwan’s southwesterly ADIZ and was given radio warnings to leave the vicinity.
During a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in April, the Coast Guard Administration publicly confirmed that Chinese drones have been regularly flying circuits around Taiwan’s Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), and it did not rule out that the uncrewed vehicles were tasked with collecting military intelligence.
According to Taiwanese media reports, China’s domestic drone program might have achieved a fresh technological breakthrough in March. Xian-based drone manufacturer Zhongtian Feilong claims to have successfully completed a test flight of a new uncrewed aerial mother ship, dubbed an “airborne aircraft carrier” by its maker, which is purportedly capable of releasing nine smaller drones to carry out reconnaissance, swarm attacks and other tasks.
If the project is successful, the “airborne aircraft carrier” would assist the PLA in its endeavor to build an integrated reconnaissance and strike swarm-warfare capability. It would allow the PLA to fight within the complex battlespace of the future, using a mother ship as a platform from which to launch precision attacks while performing a multitude of other tasks including surveillance, early warning, interference, attack and evaluation.
Stealthy, agile and relatively cheap to produce, drones will play an important role in future battles. The latest intelligence shows that the PLA has moved away from a strategy of using drones in supporting roles, and is developing combat drones designed as primary attack vehicles during aerial combat.
The PLA’s new generation of Cloud Shadow high-altitude, long-endurance drones are designed to cruise at altitudes of 14,000m. Indeed, many medium and high-altitude drones already in use by militaries around the world have a flight endurance of about 24 hours. This capability indicates that future battles will endure over long distances and long periods of time.
In recent years, the PLA has made great strides in research and development of uncrewed aerial vehicles for military purposes. It is likely that the PLA’s inventory of drones would be fielded in a war with Taiwan. This would include its short, medium and long-range integrated surveillance and reconnaissance drones, including the CAAA Rainbow, the Chengdu Pterodactyl and the Guizhou Soar Dragon families of drones, and the Shenyang Sharp Sword low-observable drone, which is capable of undertaking precision strike missions.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology must invest more resources into the research and development of military drones. Taiwan’s national security apparatus must also put their heads together to develop a range of defensive programs and systems that allow the nation to fend off this new security threat.
Yao Chung-yuan is an adjunct professor and former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s strategic planning department.
Translated by Edward Jones
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
RSS