While the Russia-Ukraine war is dominating media coverage, it is vital that Taiwan, its allies and neighboring nations maintain a laser-like focus on Chinese maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, as Beijing appears to be exploiting the conflict to test the resolve of Taipei and its allies.
On Friday, China sailed its newest aircraft carrier, the Shandong, through the Strait close to Kinmen County, several hours before US President Joe Biden was due to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The Shandong was shadowed by a US guided-missile destroyer and monitored by Taiwanese warships.
The timing of the Shandong’s passage might have been coincidental. Nevertheless, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters: “We’ve seen a concerning increase in PRC [People’s Republic of China] military activity in the Taiwan Strait, which we believe is potentially destabilizing.”
Psaki’s observation resonates with comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino, who in an interview with The Associated Press published on Sunday said that China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it has built up in the South China Sea. China has armed the islands — Mischief Reef (Meiji Reef, 美濟礁), Subi Reef (Jhubi Reef, 渚碧礁) and Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, 永暑島) — with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, radar, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets, Aquilino said.
More than just static aircraft carriers, these artificially enlarged islands, used in conjunction with air bases on Woody Island (Yongxing Island, 永興島) and the Paracels (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), allow Chinese military aircraft to operate over nearly the entirety of the South China Sea and provide its military with near-blanket radar coverage, research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed. The installations would be vital assets were China to invade Taiwan. They would help China gain maritime air superiority, providing vital cover to its military vessels, and would also form a key component of its access-denial strategy, which aims to deny the US Navy access to the area.
Meanwhile, sorties by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone continue without let-up. Sorties were flown on every day last week, except on Sunday, on flight paths close to the strategically important Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) and the Bashi Channel. Although these missions are designed to fatigue Taiwan’s pilots and ground staff, and wear out aircraft, they are not without risk for the Chinese side.
During a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on March 10, National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said that a Chinese Shaanxi Y-8 aircraft crashed in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam.
A search-and-rescue operation was disguised as additional exercises in an attempt to cover up the crash, Chen said.
Speaking to legislators yesterday, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that Beijing views the South China Sea as its territorial waters, and consequently sees its militarization of islets and atolls in the sea as its right, and a vital stepping stone to achieving its territorial ambitions.
Having engaged in the most extensive military buildup since World War II, China is now flexing its muscles at sea and in the air.
Taiwan, the US and its allies cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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