China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said.
In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years.
The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, with the outlook for Chinese production and commissioning this year on track to exceed the previous year, he said.
Photo: Reuters
The highlight of China’s shipbuilding last year was the launch of its third and “most technologically advanced aircraft carrier,” the 80,000 tonne Type 003 Fujian, he said.
Hailing the carrier as the largest warship built by an Asian country, Fanell said that in 10 years, China had gone from having no aircraft carriers to having three in the water.
The 50,000 tonne Liaoning and Shandong have been assessed as fully operational, while the Fujian is set to conduct official sea trials later this year, he said.
These efforts highlight the PLAN’s expanded “far seas operations,” with its carriers sailing outside the first island chain, he said.
With China’s “Taiwan-focused combined arms firepower exercise” and increased joint operations with Russia and others, the PLAN has demonstrated “why it may be the most dominant naval force in the western Pacific and is able to execute all orders — including the increasing likelihood of an invasion of Taiwan,” he said.
During China’s live-fire exercises in August last year that followed a visit to Taiwan by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, the PLA tested its joint force operations “by employing coordinated use of missile, space, cyber, air, army and naval forces designed to isolate Taiwan and minimalize coastal resistance to invasion forces,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has repeatedly said he is preparing for war, Fanell said.
“Given the PLAN’s production and activities in 2022, if Xi is asking Central Military Commission leaders if the PLA is prepared to invade Taiwan, the most probable answer will soon be yes,” he said.
Fanell was a career naval intelligence officer in posts such as senior intelligence officer for China at the Office of Naval Intelligence and the chief of intelligence for CTF-70, the US Seventh Fleet and the US Pacific Fleet.
He retired from the navy in 2015 and is a government fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS