In a drill on Nov. 25, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft flew once around Taiwan. On Saturday, PLA aircraft were once again engaged in a drill. The Chinese military aircraft not only circled Taiwan’s airspace, they also challenged the US and Japan’s control of the first island chain, and this carries huge strategic and tactical significance. Although all parties maintained their cool and avoided a clash, a war of nerves in the Asia-Pacific region is under way.
There have been media reports that the Ministry of National Defense responded to the latest exercise by the PLA Air Force by holding a drill on Saturday to prevent an enemy air raid that included Kidd-class warships at sea, Tien Kung and Patriot missiles on land and F-16 and Indigenous Defense Fighter jets in the air, while Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) went to the Hengshan Military Command Center in Taipei.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled 10 F-15J aircraft to intercept the Chinese aircraft and US forces in Japan sent EP-3 and RC-135 surveillance aircraft to gather intelligence. After the Japanese aircraft reportedly fired “jamming shells”, the PLA aircraft left.
All parties engaged in massive military mobilization and raised the alert in case things spun out of control. Luckily, things did not go that far, and the intelligence and national security agencies of all affected parties got away with just biting their nails.
After two such exercises, it seems the PLA sees them as a routine training assignment, and it is likely that such events will become increasingly frequent. China is testing Taiwan’s, Japan’s and the US’ willingness and determination to defend their airspace. It is also a test to discover the military deployments and capabilities of the three nations. This is to be a long-term endurance war, and none of the parties want to reveal their preparedness, while they try to reveal their counterpart’s strength.
Judging from China’s military activity in Northeast Asia and the South China Sea, it is becoming quite clear what it is attempting to do: It is increasing its military preparations in the disputed territorial waters in the South and the East China seas, which could be because Beijing thinks that US President Barack Obama’s “pivot” toward Asia will come to an end when Obama leaves the White House and because US president-elect Donald Trump’s Asia policy is still unclear. China is likely consolidating its military power in Asia.
Taiwan controls Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea and is a claimant to the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in the East China Sea. One of several claimants in these waters, the nation cannot remain aloof as larger powers compete to exert their influence in the region.
Taiwan proper is also under threat from the Chinese military, and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is unwilling to accept the so-called “1992 consensus.”
To pressure Tsai and force her to comply with China’s demands, Beijing is resorting to propaganda as well as military measures.
In this war of nerves, Taiwan must toughen up, bolster its defense abilities and initiate preventive exercises.
Taiwan must increase diplomatic and military cooperation with the US and Japan to prevent any minor oversight that could give China the opportunity it is looking for.
US aerospace company Boeing Co has in recent years been involved in numerous safety incidents, including crashes of its 737 Max airliners, which have caused widespread concern about the company’s safety record. It has recently come to light that titanium jet engine parts used by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus SE were sold with falsified documentation. The source of the titanium used in these parts has been traced back to an unknown Chinese company. It is clear that China is trying to sneak questionable titanium materials into the supply chain and use any ensuing problems as an opportunity to
It’s not every month that the US Department of State sends two deputy assistant secretary-level officials to Taiwan, together. Its rarer still that such senior State Department policy officers, once on the ground in Taipei, make a point of huddling with fellow diplomats from “like-minded” NATO, ANZUS and Japanese governments to coordinate their multilateral Taiwan policies. The State Department issued a press release on June 22 admitting that the two American “representatives” had “hosted consultations in Taipei” with their counterparts from the “Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” The consultations were blandly dubbed the “US-Taiwan Working Group on International Organizations.” The State
The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, the largest naval exercise in the region, are aimed at deepening international collaboration and interaction while strengthening tactical capabilities and flexibility in tackling maritime crises. China was invited to participate in RIMPAC in 2014 and 2016, but it was excluded this year. The underlying reason is that Beijing’s ambitions of regional expansion and challenging the international order have raised global concern. The world has made clear its suspicions of China, and its exclusion from RIMPAC this year will bring about a sea change in years to come. The purpose of excluding China is primarily
The Chinese Supreme People’s Court and other government agencies released new legal guidelines criminalizing “Taiwan independence diehard separatists.” While mostly symbolic — the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has never had jurisdiction over Taiwan — Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies associate professor Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), an expert on cross-strait relations, said: “They aim to explain domestically how they are countering ‘Taiwan independence,’ they aim to declare internationally their claimed jurisdiction over Taiwan and they aim to deter Taiwanese.” Analysts do not know for sure why Beijing is propagating these guidelines now. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), deciphering the