An invasion of Taiwan would be a “daunting undertaking” for China, a new US Congressional report released on Thursday said.
Prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the 34-page report titled “The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress” was realeased as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama.
“Over the past two decades, the main focus of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military planning and short-term operational readiness has been a potential conflict over Taiwan,” the report said.
It said that China has vowed to unify with Taiwan, using force if necessary.
In an unusual footnote, the report said that Beijing “contends” that Taiwan is a province that was seized from it by Japan during a time of Chinese weakness and that Taiwan must eventually reunify with the mainland.
“However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled Taiwan, which instead has been led by the Republic of China (ROC) government since the defeat of Japan in 1945,” the footnote said. “After losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists, the Kuomintang (KMT)-ruled ROC retreated across the Taiwan Strait in 1949. Since that time, Taiwan’s political system has evolved from a one-party state under KMT rule into a multi-party democracy.”
Official US documents that mention Taiwan’s status often refer to the “one China” policy and do not usually point out that the CCP has never ruled the island.
The CRS report said that the PLA’s planning for a potential conflict over Taiwan also might deter Taiwan from declaring independence.
“The PLA has a high concentration of forces based in China’s southeast, near Taiwan, especially amphibious and airborne assault units,” it said.
Although the military balance across the Taiwan Strait has steadily shifted in favor of the PRC as its defense spending has dwarfed the ROC’s, the report said “an invasion of Taiwan would be a daunting undertaking.”
“The potential intervention of the US to defend Taiwan would present enormous challenges for the PLA,” it said. “[The] Department of Defense assesses that China continues to develop capabilities that serve to specifically dissuade, deter or if ordered, defeat possible third-party intervention during a large-scale, theater campaign such as a Taiwan contingency,” it said.
The report said that many US China-watchers assert that China’s main reason for strengthening the PLA is to ensure that the status of Taiwan is resolved on terms favorable to Beijing.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS