A senior US defense official on Thursday told a US Senate hearing that Taiwan should enhance its asymmetric capabilities to defend against an attack by China.
US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities Mara Karlin said that the war in Ukraine illustrates Taiwan’s need to be prepared.
“I think the situation we’re seeing in Ukraine right now is a very worthwhile case study ... about why Taiwan needs to do all it can to build asymmetric capabilities, to get its population ready, so that it can be ready as quickly as possible should China choose to violate its sovereignty,” Karlin told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Photo: AFP
She was responding to a question by committee Chairman Bob Menendez, who asked when the last time was that the US Department of Defense conducted an assessment with Taiwan of its defense capabilities and needs.
Karlin said that the US and Taiwan regularly discuss ways in which Washington can help Taipei build a military tailored to the threats it faces.
“It is absolutely a priority to ensure that Taiwan is getting the asymmetric capabilities that it needs, that is most appropriate,” Karlin said.
US Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Political Military Affairs Jessica Lewis said that to offset China’s military superiority, Taiwan should focus on boosting its asymmetric capabilities, rather than acquiring more conventional military weapons.
Asymmetric systems, which have been used to great effect in Ukraine, are cost-effective, mobile, resilient and decentralized, Lewis said, citing as examples short-range air defense systems, naval mines and coastal defense and cruise missiles.
“Obviously, we don’t want there to be a conflict in Taiwan, but what they are doing is taking steps to address this issue,” Lewis said. “They’ve just created the establishment of an all-out defense mobilization organization, and they are working with our national guard as they develop this program.”
“Our support [for Taiwan] remains rock solid,” Lewis told the committee, which was seeking to learn about the US’ cooperation and assistance on external security, including the threat to Taiwan from China.
In Taiwan, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, yesterday said that Taiwan should leverage cost-effective precision-guided munitions to bolster its counterinvasion asymmetric warfare capabilities.
Affordable precision-guided air-defense and anti-ship missiles would be the key to giving Taiwan an advantage over an invading force, he said.
Although Ukraine has leveraged asymmetric warfare against Russia in a land war, Taiwan would likely have to focus on sea and air engagements, necessitating a different approach to asymmetric warfare, Su said.
Despite the differences, the logic remains the same, in that “the key to asymmetric warfare is the difference in cost,” Su said.
Asked about Karlin’s remarks, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇), said that some in the US have abetted forces for Taiwanese independence in a bid to hold back China’s rejuvenation.
“This would not only push Taiwan into a precarious situation, but also bring unbearable consequences for the US side,” Liu said in an e-mail.
Additional reporting by Reuters
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS