Defense analyst Rick Fisher told a Washington conference that the US failure to sell weapons to Taiwan is leading both countries “down the road to tragedy.”
He said that selling the weapons was in the US’ “highest interests,” because it would give Taipei the means to deter an attack from China.
Fisher blamed the US State -Department’s refusal to reconsider its “narrow and strict” -interpretation of what the Taiwan Relations Act refers to as “defensive weapons.”
The situation, he argued before the Hudson Institute, was an “ongoing strategic tragedy.”
Fisher, of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, based his conclusion on an analysis of China’s new White Paper on national defense.
He said that Beijing would soon be demanding that Taipei enter into substantive political negotiations leading to a peace treaty, and that there was a “bold statement” in the paper that unification was desired and expected.
At the same time, he said, independence forces in Taiwan were identified as a “key enemy.”
For the first time, Fisher said, the “goals and missions” section of the White Paper gave high priority to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) efforts to contain and oppose the forces of Taiwan independence.
“When I read an official Chinese document identifying Taiwan independence as a threat, Taiwan independence as bad, Taiwan -independence as destroying the sovereignty of the great and glorious Chinese nation, I know they are talking about democracy,” he said. “It is not Taiwanese independence they are frightened of, it is democracy. That’s what threatens the Chinese Communist Party.”
Fisher said the White Paper made clear that the goal of unification had not been abandoned, but in this age of globalization and interconnectedness, it seemed “almost inconceivable” that China would risk a war over Taiwan.
Such a war, Fisher said, would require a level of “displacement and disruption” not seen since the fall of Vietnam. “I would caution that in the interest of preserving its principle core interest — sustaining its dictatorship — the Chinese Communist Party has more than proven its willingness to use force,” he said.
“The goal of taking Taiwan has not been abandoned. The PLA is continuing to build up its forces in preparation for a conflict over Taiwan, a conflict they hope will be short. They hope the people in Taiwan will increasingly surrender their rights and their sovereignties,” he said.
Fisher said the US should defend Taiwan not just because of the Taiwan Relations Act, but because of Washington’s own -strategic interests.
Abandoning Taiwan, he said, would lead to “challenges and problems” not the least of which would be losing the best opportunity to promote democratic reform in China by maintaining its example across the Strait.
Taiwan should concentrate its military on deterring an amphibious invasion by China, Fisher said.
“That’s the most profitable way to deter a war. If the PLA can’t put boots on the ground, can’t put armor on shore, it is not going to start the war to begin with,” he said.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is