Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to have the capability to successfully invade Taiwan by 2027, National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, casting doubt on the progress of Beijing’s military modernization plans.
Taiwan would continue to delay the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) invasion timetable by strengthening its defense capabilities, Koo said.
“I don’t think it will happen in the near future or at least within one to two years,” Koo said of a Chinese invasion.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“If China needs to carry out amphibious landing operations to take Taiwan, I don’t think it will have such capabilities by 2027,” he said.
Koo declined to pinpoint when an attack could happen, saying only that Taiwan does not see Beijing making invasion preparations.
Beijing is already facing uncertainty next year from its own economic downturn, while the world must also deal with the US election, and wars in Europe and the Middle East, he said.
Xi is seeking to build a “world-class force” by 2027, a deadline that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the PLA.
Then-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley last year said that Beijing’s military would not be ready to invade Taiwan for “some time.”
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown Jr last week said he doubts Beijing plans to take Taiwan militarily.
Koo said Taiwan would use mobile weapons such as anti-ship missiles, HIMARS, drones and Javelin anti-tank systems to make China’s landing operations more difficult in the event of an invasion.
The US plans to accelerate a HIMARS shipment by one year to 2026.
Earlier this month, Koo said the US government is taking steps to speed up the delivery of US weapons systems to Taiwan that have been delayed by factors including shipments to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach