Sun, Nov 28, 1999 page2

• Military analysts criticize island troop withdrawal

  MILITARY REDEPLOYMENT Defense experts have criticized the downgrading of forces on the Pratas and Spratly islands, but the military says the move is due to the need to better defend Taiwan's core territories

  • By Brian Hsu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Plans by Taiwan to replace the military presence on the Pratas (東沙) and Spratly (南沙) islands in the South China Sea with a civilian force is not strategically justifiable, military analysts say. This is despite claims that this force could be effective for the handling of fishing disputes with China or pirate attacks in the region.

  "Unless the government has decided to abandon the two islands, which are a long away from Taiwan proper, it should not confuse their strategic value with their tactical uses," said military analyst Su Chin-chiang (蘇進強) from Nan Hua University.

  "Replacing troops with a police force is equal to downgrading the strategic value of the two islands. It should not happen," Su said. "The armed forces' job is to defend the country's territory, while the police's job is to maintain social order. It is the same in most other countries."

  

  A sign erected on national day 13 years ago by troops stationed on the Pratas Islands says: " We are determined to die or survive with this land."

  PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI

  The troop withdrawal plan is to coincide with the establishment next year of the new Coast Guard Administration, which will bring together elements of police, customs and military forces that currently protect Taiwan's shores.

  Su also pointed out that police are not properly trained to defend a country's territory in case of attack and would be unable to make effective use of weapons and equipment for this purpose.

  "It seems that the government plans to leave the defense of these two islands to a police force only because it thinks the armed forces cannot hold them against an invasion."

  The government could have handled the matter better, Su said, if they sent both troops and police to carry out their respective functions on the islands.

  Lin Yu-fang (林郁芳), a former lawmaker and a military scholar at Tamkang University, said he could not see any viable reason why the government wants to execute the troop withdrawal plan as part of the Coast Guard Administration's establishment.

  "The plan is confusing and illogical. If the armed forces cannot defend the two islands against an invasion, the police will be even less capable of doing so," Lin said.

  "If there is any meaning behind the move, it could be only that the government wants to abandon less important territories like the Pratas and Spratlys, so that it can focus its troops on defending Taiwan proper, as well as the Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen islands, in an attack by China," he said. "This is not a smart move since China will not attack the two islands if its aim is Taiwan."

  "It is true that Taiwan's air force and navy do not have the ability to project their power into the South China Sea. But China does not have that ability either," Lin said. A better way to avoid a confrontation with the Chinese troops, he said, would be not to pull troops out of frontline posts but to take the initiative in peace talks.

  KMT lawmaker Chen Ching-po (陳清寶), elected from the frontline island of Kinmen, worried that his home islands will be the next on the list of troop withdrawals.

  "The troops on Kinmen and surrounding islets now number less than 10,000 -- a great reduction from 50,000-some at their peak," Chen said.

  Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (唐飛), speaking on Friday at the legislature, admitted that the real aim behind the troop withdrawal plan was to avoid sacrificing the security of mainland Taiwan, and that of other offshore territories such as Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu, for the sake of the Pratas and Spratlys.

  "The armed forces do not have the capability to defend the two islands, since they are beyond the range that the air force and navy can efficiently operate," Tang said.

  "If we use a lot of energy and resources on defending the two islands, the safety of Taiwan proper and other major territories will be put at greater risk," he said.
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