For a long time, the air force’s battle plan has been to use segments of the nation’s freeways as contingency runways for its military aircraft in the event of an invasion and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) destroy or damage the nation’s runways.
Currently, the distribution of Taiwan’s runways is mainly concentrated in the western part of the country — including the freeway sections in Changhua County’s Huatan (花壇), Chiayi County’s Minsyong (民雄), Tainan’s Madou (麻豆) and Rende (仁德), and Pingtung County’s Jiadong (佳冬). The first four are all on freeways, while the Jiadong section is on Provincial Highway 1.
However, in recent years, the PLA Navy and Air Force have increased their range and capabilities with the addition of fighters that can fly longer distances, and the commissioning of air refueling tankers and aircraft carriers. As a result, the frequency of various types of PLA aircraft flying around southeastern and eastern Taiwan has increased.
In the past, Hualien County’s Jiashan (佳山) airbase and Taitung County’s Chihang (志航) airbase in eastern Taiwan were regarded as the air force’s final resort from which to counterattack, because of their underground caves and underpass networks.
Today, the security of the Jiashan and Chihang airbases is threatened by the frequent PLA flights near Taiwan. A practical policy response to meet these threats is for the air force to establish an additional runway in eastern Taiwan, so as to diversify the risk fighters would face in taking off and landing there.
From the perspective of national security and air defense, I support the air force building an additional runway in eastern Taiwan. Perhaps those against it would argue that Taiwan is already within the range of PLA rockets and cruise missiles, would another runway not also be subject to the PLA’s firepower?
This argument is not entirely wrong. However, from the perspective of defense, the more new runways and arms storage the nation builds, the more it would increase the PLA’s cost of attacking Taiwan. In other words, from the perspective of the defense, in order to disperse the PLA’s ballistic missile attacks, it is necessary for the air force to build an additional runway in eastern Taiwan.
As for the highly urbanized western part of Taiwan, there is almost no room to add another runway. Since the eastern part of Taiwan is less developed than the western part, and the former is relatively sparsely populated, the addition of a runway in eastern Taiwan is not only a necessity, but also a much better option for the “Taiwan-Pescadores defense operation.”
Residents of eastern Taiwan, rather than opposing the construction of an additional runway, should consider how a new runway in the region would help the air force’s fighter jets evacuate to stay in the fight, which would strengthen the nation’s defense.
Ray Song is a doctoral student at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
Small and medium enterprises make up the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, yet large corporations such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) play a crucial role in shaping its industrial structure, economic development and global standing. The company reported a record net profit of NT$374.68 billion (US$11.41 billion) for the fourth quarter last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching NT$868.46 billion, a 39 percent increase. Taiwan’s GDP last year was about NT$24.62 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, meaning TSMC’s quarterly revenue alone accounted for about 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP last year, with the company’s
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
RSS