The US and its allies could break a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has “the number of vessels and the capability at sea to execute a blockade,” he told a news conference marking US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Hawaii on Saturday, Nikkei Asia reported.
“The question that follows is: ‘Do the allies have the capability to break that blockade?’ And the answer to that is a resounding yes,” he said.
Photo: Reuters
The US military alone could defeat a Chinese blockade with its volume of firepower and “superiority in key domains,” he said, likely referring to nuclear submarines and other undersea forces.
However, an unnamed US official told Nikkei that Beijing could use means other than naval forces to effectively blockade Taiwan.
Citing Beijing’s military exercises in August, the official said China fired 11 ballistic missiles into designated exercise areas in the waters off the ports of Taipei and Kaohsiung, causing disruptions to maritime and air traffic.
“That’s a pretty significant impact on normal activities,” the official said, underscoring the missile threat to Taiwan’s aerial and marine lines of communication.
“You could essentially blockade Taiwan’s access, through the repeated imposition of these kinds of closure areas, legally, safely and in a way that would be extraordinarily difficult, either for Taiwan or the US, to challenge and to counter,” they said.
A senior Taiwanese official was cited by Nikkei as saying that the nation would not bow to Beijing’s pressure.
“The Chinese pressure campaign, coercion campaign, has proven to be counterproductive,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“These coercive measures not only strengthen our people’s determination, our will, to defend our own democracy, but also rally international support to Taiwan,” they said.
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
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
NO FREE LUNCH: Taiwanese joining the trips to China met TAO and United Front Work officials who urged them to vote for candidates who support closer ties with Beijing The Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday released two suspects on bail who have been accused of recruiting Taiwanese to join tours to China funded by Beijing and in which they were urged to vote for pan-blue candidates in January’s presidential and legislative elections. The pan-blue camp generally refers to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Young China Party, which support closer relations with China. Prosecutors said that a man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), and a woman, surnamed Yeh (葉), who are members of the China Pan-Blue Association, recruited Taiwanese tourists to join tours arranged
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday slammed a proposal by New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, to permit a “significant number” of Chinese students to study and work in Taiwan, saying it would be detrimental to young Taiwanese. At an event on Monday hosted by nine major industrial and business groups, Hou said that if elected, he would reinitiate cross-strait dialogue on the premise that Taiwan’s dignity would not be compromised and that the talks would be held in good faith. The talks would include lifting a ban on Chinese tour groups and
RSS