Beijing has never given up on the potential of uniting Taiwan with China by force and its national defense funding continues to grow yearly, Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻) said in a report to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan.
Reporting on the development of cross-strait affairs, Kao said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued to modernize its military as well as reinforce its combat capability against Taiwan by improving its military command structure, replacing outdated equipment and stepping up training for its armed forces.
The report came in light of recent cross-strait talks over the M503 flight path — which runs along the middle of the Taiwan Strait, with feeder routes to China labeled W121, W122 and W123 — arbitrarily announced by China in January. Taiwanese officials said that the path could affect security for flights to Kinmen County and Lienchiang County.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force and Navy have also begun air and sea drills in the western Pacific to familiarize its forces with anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategies, Kao said.
All of this is evidence that Beijing has not given up the thought of unification through force, Kao said.
The Ministry of National Defense is monitoring the Taiwan Strait and the actions of the PLA, Kao said, adding that the ministry would also keep apprised of international territorial affairs.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that at last count, the CCP controlled seven known shoals and islands in the Spratly Islands, known in Taiwan as the Nansha Islands (南沙群島).
The largest of the seven — Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, 永暑島) — is at least three times larger than Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), the largest naturally occurring islands in the Spratly group after being made five times larger by landfills, Lin said.
With the island now 2,000m long, it is considered eligible for the construction of an airfield, Lin said.
Though Vietnam has not used landfill methods to enlarge the Sandy Cay (Duncian Shajou, 敦謙沙洲) and Namyit Island (Hongsiou Island, 鴻庥島), 6 and 12 nautical miles (11km to 22km) from Itu Aba Island respectively, there are signs of the Vietnamese government increasing their artillery deployed on both islands, Lin said.
However, the Vietnamese military is reclaiming land and expanding Sin Cowe Island (Jinghong Island 景宏島) — 30 nautical miles from Itu Aba Island — which is now roughly the size of 130 basketball courts, Lin said, adding that there was a possibility that Vietnam would begin constructing piers capable of berthing large ships.
Vietnam is posing a considerable threat to Taiwan’s lone garrison in the South China Sea, Lin said.
Construction of piers on Itu Aba Island is scheduled to be finished by the end of this year and would offer berthing of frigate-class ships of up to 3,000 tonnes, Lin said.
With both the CCP and Vietnam stepping up the scale of their military bases in the region, the need to extend the Itu Aba Island airstrip is becoming more urgent, Lin said, calling on the ministry to begin the extension as soon as the piers have been finished.
Lin also said the ministry should consider moving regular troops onto the island to oversee its defenses. The nation pulled marines from the island and turned over garrison duty to the Coast Guard Administration in 2000.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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