The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said.
General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.”
Photo: Screen grab from the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ YouTube channel
The second lesson is specifically on the Taiwan issue, “because that’s where we spend a lot of our time thinking about how to counter cross-strait invasion, which is the most dangerous course of action,” in particular, “how hard that [invasion] is.”
The US Army builds its warfighter program at the division and corps levels to counter a “wet gap crossing” — a military maneuver designed to facilitate the crossing of a body of water, he said.
In the context of Taiwan, it refers to a military operation in which Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and equipment are moved across the Taiwan Strait.
“We’re talking about an adversary [China] that has to cross an 80-mile [129km] wet gap that’s being watched by an unblinking eye, multiple countries working together to deter them from that activity,” he said.
The chances of being able to conduct “an uncontested or successful wet gap crossing of that scale” are “very, very small,” the general added.
“So our efforts to continue to make that problem set more difficult for the Chinese is where we spend a lot of our time,” the US Army general added.
The US is building partnerships across the region with allies and partners in conducting Taiwan Strait transits, he said.
“They’re working closely together to build the interoperability necessary to contest their [China’s] aggressive, belligerent and coercive activities across the region,” he added.
“It’s us focusing on our people to ensure that our teammates understand the importance of their mission, and that we’re in this thing together,” Clark said.
Clark assumed command of USARPAC on Nov. 8 last year.
The US Army Pacific is headquartered at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, with elements of the command forward-deployed and stationed throughout the Indo-Pacific, according to information on USARPAC’s Web site.
The US military, sometimes joined by allies, makes regular, almost monthly transits through the Taiwan Strait in what it calls “freedom of navigation” exercises.
Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Japan have also conducted similar Taiwan Strait transits with warships and warplanes.
Most recently, the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey transited the Taiwan Strait on June 18.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS