Though chances of an armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait appear to have diminished for the time being, the Chinese government has never changed its mindset of achieving “unification,” by force if necessary, nor lowered its guard toward the Taiwanese military, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report yesterday.
While President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) relatively open China policy seems to have calmed turbulent cross-strait relations, the ministry said that Beijing had not dropped its aggressive stance against Taiwan.
The ministry’s Five-Year Military Reform and Policy Plan Report, submitted to the legislature yesterday, said that China’s Second Artillery Corps had increased its deployment of Dong Feng 16 (DF-16) and DF-21D missiles, which would enable the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to conduct multiple-wave precision strikes against Taiwan.
The Chinese arsenal deployed along its east coast includes 1,400 tactical ballistic missiles, short-range missiles, cruise missiles, as well as laser or electronically guided missiles capable of delivering warheads over long distances.
The report said this has strengthened the PLA’s capabilities to strike against all targets within the nation.
While National Security Bureau Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) said in March that China had begun deploying the DF-16, a newly developed tactical ballistic missile, it remains unknown whether the DF-21D, a medium-range hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile currently under development, has started being deployed, though some US officials claim that it has.
The DF-21D, said to be designed to counter US maritime superiority, can strike a moving aircraft carrier from a land-based location.
The ministry said newly created missile brigades are officially equipped with the DF-21D to strengthen overall missile strike capability.
The Second Artillery is capable, with its overall number of missiles, accuracy and damage capability, and in tandem with naval and air forces, of conducting large-scale joint strikes as well as naval and aerial interdiction, the report said.
The report was submitted along with the ministry’s national defense budget estimates.
The more relaxed atmosphere in the Taiwan Strait has not stopped the PLA from modernizing its equipment and strengthening the combat ability of its forces under its military strategy of “active defense.”
The PLA is also making large-scale preparations for combat in the southeast coastal regions, which shows that Beijing has not given up its ambition of resolving the Taiwan issue by force, the report said.
The risk of a military clash across the Strait is still extant, the report said.
As for the PLA’s combat readiness, the report showed that while continuing to deploy the Beidou No. 2 positioning satellite, the PLA would complete installation of the Beidou global positioning system (GPS) in 2020 and would no longer have to rely on the US’ GPS.
The Beidou GPS would also enhance long-range precision strikes, the report said.
The PLA’s large-scale live-fire exercises south and east of the China Sea, with its land-based Yingji-62 subsonic anti-ship missile, S300 Soviet-origin long-range surface-to-air missiles and the DF-21D could effectively interdict Taiwan’s aerial and naval counteraction capabilities, as well as the battle capability of “third-party forces” west of the country, the report said.
Although the PLA is currently limited by being unable to conduct large-scale warfare against Taiwan because of a lack of regular amphibious craft and because of environmental constraints, it has the ability to take over Taiwan’s outlying islands, the report said.
It added that the PLA was trying to buy four Zubr-class LCAC air-cushioned hovercraft from Ukraine, with two to be built in Feodosia in Ukraine and the other two to be build in China under the supervision of Ukrainian technicians.
These landing craft would increase its load capacity and lower army projection timing, gradually threatening Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, the report said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff writer
TAIWAN PROTECTION MEASURE: US Army General Charles Flynn would not say where in the Asia-Pacific the missiles would be sent, but only that they would arrive in 2024 The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported. The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying. “In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will
UNUSUAL UPTICK: There are more flu-like illnesses in northern China than in the past 3 years, but data from Beijing showed that known pathogens are responsible Responding to an uptick in respiratory illnesses in China, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it has instructed international airport and port quarantine centers to raise their alert levels, and plans to issue an alert to healthcare practitioners. The number of flu-like illnesses reported in northern China has been increasing for five consecutive weeks, and is higher than the same period in the past three years, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said. “According to the WHO’s latest statement, issued yesterday, information provided by Chinese government showed that the illnesses were mainly reported among children, and the illnesses were attributed
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
LOCAL INDUSTRY SAFE: Despite global expansion plans, 90% of Taiwanese IC suppliers’ production would stay in Taiwan, the National Development Council minister said Taiwan’s semiconductor firms are expected to invest US$210 billion over the next five years to cement the country’s lead over its peers in the global IC market, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said on Friday. Digital transformation in the high-tech sector had become an irreversible international trend, Kung told an investment forum on business start-ups. The government would continue to encourage the local semiconductor industry to invest by providing incentives under the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例), Kung said. Taiwanese semiconductor firms are expected to move their investments out of the China due to a restructuring of global supply chains amid
RSS