Decisions that the US Congress and the White House make on US Navy spending could affect the likelihood and outcome of a US-China military conflict over Taiwan, a congressional report said.
“Some observers consider such a conflict to be very unlikely, in part because of significant US-Chinese economic linkages and the tremendous damage that such a conflict could cause on both sides,” the report said.
Nevertheless, the report said the question of how the US should respond to China’s military modernization effort is a “key issue” in US defense planning.
The US Congressional Research Service report — China Naval Modernization: Implications for US Navy Capabilities — was written by Ronald O’Rourke, a specialist in naval affairs.
It said China’s naval modernization is oriented toward addressing the situation with Taiwan, “militarily if need be.”
“China wants its military to be capable of acting as an anti-access/area-denial force — a force that can deter US intervention in a conflict in China’s near-seas region over Taiwan or failing that delay the arrival or reduce the effectiveness of intervening US forces,” O’Rourke said in the report.
O’Rourke quoted US military reports as saying China is developing remote-controlled underwater vehicles, and torpedo and mine systems capable of area denial “in a Taiwan scenario.”
Estimates put China’s inventory of mines in excess of 50,000.
Although aircraft carriers might have some value for China in a Taiwan-related conflict, they are not considered critical because Taiwan is within range of land-based Chinese aircraft, the report said.
While China might be building large amphibious ships to defend territorial claims in the East and South China seas, the vessels would “be of value for conducting amphibious landings in Taiwan,” it said.
The report also quotes a US intelligence document as saying that China’s military is developing electromagnetic pulse weapons that Beijing plans to use against US aircraft carriers in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
Given the pace of Chinese naval modernization, the report said that the gap in military capability between Taiwan and China would continue to widen in Beijing’s favor over the coming years.
“The People’s Republic of China views reunification with Taiwan as an immutable, long-term goal and hopes to prevent any other actor from intervening in a Taiwan scenario,” the report said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to