Two US defense experts on Tuesday expressed support for Taiwan to develop offensive missile capabilities at a panel held to discuss China's growing missile force.
According to Richard Fisher, vice president of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, a Washington-based think tank, the US would face serious difficulties in defending Taiwan in the event of a missile attack by China.
The sheer number of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan has tipped the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait, Fisher said, adding that he supports Taiwan's efforts to develop its own offensive missile capabilities.
Fisher, whose research focuses on Chinese weapons systems, made the remarks at a panel discussion hosted by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, entitled "China's Growing Missile Force: What It Means for the Strategic Balance in Asia."
He was joined on the panel by Daryl Kimball, from the Arms Control Association, who is also an expert on the Chinese military.
Both men agreed that given the number of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan now exceeds 800, the deployment of US AEGIS-equipped destroyers in the Taiwan Strait would probably not be enough to defend Taiwan against a Chinese missile attack.
Once China attacks Taiwan, the US would not necessarily have enough time to deploy an aircraft carrier and destroyers, Fisher said.
He proposed that the US provide Taiwan with energy-directed weapons to minimize the damage of a first-wave attack on Taiwan by China.
Another option would be to support Taiwan in its efforts to develop indigenous cruise and ballistic missiles, he said.
Such missiles, according to Fisher, would allow Taiwan to wage asymmetric warfare against China, thus deterring China from attacking.
Kimball said that it would be impossible for the US and Taiwan to defend against a Chinese missile attack.
He supported President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal for Taiwan and China to conduct bilateral negotiations on arms reduction and a freezing of Chinese missile deployments in the Strait region.
Evan Medeiros, a RAND Corp analyst, told the panel discussion that China's growing missile force is not just a threat to Taiwan, but to Japan and US military bases in the region as well.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but