The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week.
The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan.
The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said.
Photo: Jason Lee, Reuters
The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches, ports and bases, and has combined novel and conventional technology in multiple layers, it said.
It has worked on enhancing the cooperation between military and civilian society to enable a rapid transition to a wartime footing, it said, adding that it continued to build its strategic weapons arsenal to deter international intervention in the Taiwan Strait.
China has been building navy and coast guard offshore patrol vessels en masse, which could be used to isolate important ports from strategic materials and commerce, the ministry said.
The PLA Navy could also be rapidly deployed to blockade or shape conditions for a formal attack on Taiwan proper, it said.
China plans to mobilize civilian transport vessels to assist military operations, which could resolve its lack of logistical capabilities, the ministry said, adding that it could conceal signs of an invasion preparation.
The PLA would be able to hide from prying eyes its transition to war and shorten the time Taiwan would have to prepare for a fight, it said.
Identifying the signs of a Chinese invasion has become difficult for Taiwan, the ministry said.
The prevalence of commercial satellites allows for unprecedented observation and geolocation capabilities that has made the battlefield transparent, it said.
The armed forces must be mobile, agile and capable of dispersing or concentrating as needed, to preserve its force under enemy fire, it said, adding that it must also focus on building flexible and agile capabilities to enable the rapid dispersal or concentration of combat power.
Long-range and uncrewed weapon systems allow precision strikes at longer ranges and give more choices in delivery, blurring the line between the front and rear areas, it said.
The protection of logistics lines has become key to winning offensive and defensive operations on a battlefield where troops are sure to consume huge amounts of ammunition and supplies, the ministry said.
The PLA’s electronic warfare combined with hard-kill capabilities pose a severe threat to the nation’s armed forces, it said.
The military must have secure communication, and geolocation and navigation systems to deploy and preserve combat power, the ministry said.
Drones, including “smart” loitering munitions, have brought significant changes to land warfare and air defense, it said, adding that uncrewed aerial and naval vehicles could be used to attack maritime targets or conduct long-range strikes.
China would use conventional, mixed and unconventional forces should a war break out, it said.
For Taiwan, mounting an effective defense depends on whole-of-society support, rapid mobilization of military and civilian capabilities, and ensuring the government and essential services survive, the ministry said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS