China is unlikely to attempt a military invasion of Taiwan in the short term, but would continue pursuing a “salami slicing” strategy with the aim of forcing Taiwan to talk, a research report says.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “has a clear intention to unify Taiwan, but the means he would employ to attempt this are vague, and both peaceful unification and the use of military force would remain as possible options,” the report by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research says.
Xi sees China’s unification with Taiwan as being closely linked to his plans for the so-called “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” the report says.
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“Xi still sees peaceful unification as the best option to achieve that end, but is also preparing for the worst-case scenario,” it says. “At this stage, the probability of China launching a military attack on Taiwan is low, but if the issue is left to Xi alone to decide, the risk of trouble in the Taiwan Strait goes up.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy for pursuing peaceful unification would involve retaining the option of using force, and using threats and coercion to sow a rift in Taiwanese society, forcing Taiwan to the negotiating table, the report says, adding that China would continue attempts to infiltrate Taiwanese society through the guise of various types of exchanges.
Citing examples, the report says China’s large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait held on Sept. 11 last year demonstrated an attempt at intimidation of Taiwanese, while its “cross-strait development plan” promising benefits for Taiwanese who relocate to Fujian Province is an attempt at infiltration and division of Taiwanese society.
At the same time, China’s military drills were intended as a show of force to the US, which it hopes to deter from military involvement in a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the report says.
“Rather than outright launching a war, the CCP is seeking to pressure Taiwan politically, militarily, economically, psychologically and socially,” it says.
However, if decisionmaking power in the CCP is completely concentrated in Xi alone, and CCP bureaucrats lose their advisory functions, the risk of Xi acting rashly in the Taiwan Strait would increase significantly, the report says.
Taiwan’s government and military would need to carefully plan for that contingency, and be prepared for the possibility of an armed conflict with China, it says.
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