China wants Taiwan, an independent democratic island nation off its east coast, to be part of it, and has threatened to take it by force if necessary. While many analysts agree China will invade Taiwan at some point, no one knows when. In this episode of China Uncensored, we look at the prediction one US general made about 2025, why others have predicted different dates, and why Xi Jinping isn't the problem with China's aggressiveness in the Taiwan Strait.
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In a move that is sure to further anger China, Taiwan's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that some of its military officers have been sent to Italy to attend a NATO war college.
According to Taiwanese air force officer Lt. Col. Wu Bong-yeng, he was sent in 2021 to the NATO Defense College in Rome for a 6-month course that he insisted was purely academic.
Wu added, "This was an academic exchange, not a military exchange. Of course, they were very curious about Taiwan." According to Wu, he studied the same academic curriculum as officers from NATO countries and the Taiwanese Defense Ministry confirmed that other officers attended the war college as well.
While Taiwan has a history of cooperating with the U.S., it is rare for the island nation to interact with other foreign militaries. The announcement of the war college activities comes after NATO announced in its updated 2022 Strategic Concept document that China poses "systematic challenges" to the military alliance.
It was first announced in 2020 that NATO was closely monitoring China and that the alliance would strengthen its Indo-Pacific partnerships with other nations. Since that announcement, Germany, Britain, and France have joined the U.S. in sending warships into waters near China.
While the U.S. and its allies have been working to increase relations with Taiwan in recent years, China views the measures as an assault on the one-China policy, which has resulted in increased Chinese military activity and shows of force in the waters and skies around Taiwan.
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The State Department announced this week that it has approved the sale of $180 million worth of arms for Taiwan pending Congressional approval. The order is mostly comprised of Volcano anti-tank systems. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has said that the sale should take approximately a month to complete and that the volcano mine systems would increase the country’s “asymmetric warfare” capabilities.
The announcement of the sale came days after China sent 30 aircraft into Taiwan’s airspace Monday in the largest show of force that China has conducted thus far. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry called the US’s sale of military assets to the country the “cornerstone of maintaining regional stability and peace.” The Defense Ministry cited China’s military exercises as the reason for the buildup of anti-tank systems, saying, “The Chinese Communist Party’s frequent military activities near Taiwan have posted severe military threats to us.”
American companies Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh Corporation are listed as the principal contractors for the Volcano anti-tank mine systems to be sent to Taiwan.
The purchase of the anti-tank mine system is part of Taiwan’s efforts to step up its capabilities to protect its shores from a possible Chinese invasion using amphibious landing craft.
After multiple shows of force from the Chinese PLA in recent weeks, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to increase the country’s civil defense systems saying, “The more preparations we make, the less likely there will be rash attempts of aggression. The more united we are, the stronger and safer Taiwan would become.”
The massive show of force on Monday appears to be retaliation for the US including $10 billion in loans in its 2023 National Defense Authorization Act for Taiwan to purchase US-made weapons and equipment. China has made it clear that it will keep pressure on Taiwan by conducting military exercises and drills near the island as well as sending aircraft and warships across the Taiwan Straight median line.
A week after the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill on U.S. policy toward Taiwan, the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee introduced its own version.
Analysts say it will take time to consolidate the two versions of the Taiwan Policy Act 2022 amid concerns that it would not clear the U.S. Congress before the end of the current term in Jan. 2023.
The House’s version of the Taiwan Policy Act was introduced on Wednesday by the Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican and Chairman of its China Task Force, Michael McCaul, in order to “strengthen Taiwan’s defense and deter the aggression of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP].”
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China now boasts a large navy with enough surface warships to blockade rival Taiwan, according to the commander of the U.S. Navy‘s frontline fleet.
“They have a very large navy, and if they want to bully and put ships around Taiwan, they very much can do that,” Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
China‘s People’s Liberation Army conducted large-scale naval maneuvers around Taiwan last month in what defense analysts say was practice for future military action against the island state Beijing claims as its territory...
To read more visit The Washington Times.
The Biden administration is preparing to sell $1.1 billion in missiles and radar support to Taiwan, according to an official familiar with the matter.
The package would include as much as $650 million in continued support for a surveillance radar sold earlier, about $90 million for roughly 100 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles as well as about 60 additional anti-ship Harpoon missiles, the official said. Both weapons have been sold to Taiwan previously.
The State Department informally notified Congress of the sale late Monday. Even though it offers Taiwan no new military capability, the move will anger China, which has become more aggressive in its military posture against the island...
To read more visit Bloomberg.
