China is sending balloons over Taiwan as a warning against the presidential election result and in an effort to weaken the nation’s sovereignty, US daily The Hill reported on Monday.
Frequently sending balloons over Taiwan is part of China’s increasing effort to “coerce and intimidate” the nation after voters “flouted Beijing’s warning” about Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who won the presidential election on Jan. 13, the paper said.
Chinese spy balloons flew into Taiwanese airspace almost daily before and after the election, it said.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing’s actions are a “signal about increased surveillance,” but tensions are unlikely to further escalate, it quoted Kristen Gunness, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, as saying.
“Balloons are a big deal, but it’s not enough of one to be able to — especially if Taiwan isn’t doing anything about it — to provoke a conflict or crisis,” she said.
Beijing is facing an ailing economy at home and would like to avoid stoking tensions with Washington, which might stop it from taking aggressive actions “this year or in the immediate future” unless it is provoked by events such as Taiwan declaring independence, she said.
However, China would continue “what it’s been doing, which is basically conduct air and maritime operations around Taiwan to show that they can control the maritime and airspace,” she said.
Other experts expressed graver concerns over the possibility that Beijing might launch military actions against Taiwan, the paper said, citing US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino, who predicted that China would step up its aggressive behavior after the election.
The Chinese spy balloons are used globally, but they “are unlikely to be practically useful for surveillance” in Taiwan, where China already has eyes and ears, it said.
Hung Ho-fung (孔誥烽), a political economy professor and East Asia expert at Johns Hopkins University, said the balloons are “part of a Chinese tactic to diminish Taiwanese independence.”
Beijing aims to “squeeze the airspace and then blur the line” between two sides across the Taiwan Strait “as much as possible to establish a kind of status quo” where no clear boundary exists, the article quoted him as saying.
The article also quoted an analysis released on Thursday by US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, which said that China is attempting to “normalize using balloons in tandem with other aerial and naval” air defense identification zone incursions “to wear down Taiwan’s threat awareness.”
Sending balloons is unlikely to push the US or Taiwan to any action, it said.
Colonel Wang Chia-chun (王家駿), deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense’s joint operations planning section, earlier this month said that the military would not shoot down the balloons, as it would be a waste of ammunition and give Beijing the reaction it wants.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS