China winning control of Taiwan would be “disastrous for the US,” while Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and the Chinese Communist Party “are not being held sufficiently accountable for their actions,” Air & Space Forces Magazine cited an unclassified US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) report as saying.
The ONI brief, released under the signature of ONI Commander Rear Admiral Mike Studeman, reportedly says that the US and China “are engaged in an international struggle between competing visions.”
“China is executing a grand strategy, and has been unified in pursuing it comprehensively and aggressively for many years,” the magazine last week cited the brief as saying, adding that Beijing seeks to become a regional then global hegemon, “wresting influence away from the US, and imposing a new world order that favors Beijing.”
Photo: Reuters
Calling Xi the “most dangerous leader since Mao [Zedong, 毛澤東] in terms of willingness to use creeping expansionism and force to resolve territorial issues at his neighbors’ expense,” the brief reportedly says that China’s military has become “a formidable, highly lethal fighting force” that is “very much a peer” of the US military.
“The US cannot afford an ‘anemic information instrument’ and must challenge China’s narrative about its peaceful rise and intentions,” the magazine said, citing the brief. “Not speaking out ‘makes the [US] more vulnerable.’”
“The survival of Taiwan’s democracy is a critical geostrategic issue that carries long-term consequences for China, the US, and the broader international community,” the ONI document reportedly says.
Air & Space Forces cited the brief as saying that Beijing winning control of Taiwan “would be disastrous for the US even if China did not use military force.”
Taking Taiwan “would give Xi ‘extraordinary new legitimacy’ both domestically and internationally,” and “signal an ‘ideological win over democracy, freedom and the West,’” the magazine said.
In annexing Taiwan, Beijing would absorb a significant economy, while growing its military power and gaining “greater reach into the Pacific domination of China’s near-abroad sea lanes and chokepoints,” it said.
It would also give Beijing control over critical technology in Taiwan, such as semiconductors as well as US weapon systems, including fighter jets and air defenses, the magazine said.
Possessing Taiwan would also give China considerably more influence with more countries, while the US’ credibility would “sharply decline,” with regional allies and partners reassessing their relationship with Washington, it said.
Ultimately, “it would be much harder for the US to ‘forestall further erosion of international norms [and the] rules-based order,’” while creating “a perception of ‘US decline,’” Air & Space Forces cited the brief as saying, adding: “There would be no Chinese-speaking democracy in Asia.”
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS