A French journalist was awarded a prize on Wednesday for his reporting on Taiwan’s military preparedness and geopolitical situation, concluding that citizens must be more united and prepared for a conflict.
Cyrille Pluyette, deputy editor of L’Express, was awarded Le Prix de la presse diplomatique for his June 4 piece titled “If Xi Jinping (習近平) decides to attack ... can Taiwan resist an invasion?”
At the time of Pluyette’s visit to Taiwan, China was increasing its incursions into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) following President William Lai’s (賴清德) May 20 inauguration.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
His report had three chapters. The first looks at the increasingly frequent incursions, the second at the strategic realities of how an invasion could occur, and the third at how prepared Taiwan and its allies are.
In the first chapter, Pluyette visits the Hsinchu Air Base, where he sees how personnel react to the incursions.
Last year, 1,700 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s ADIZ, an increase of 76 percent in two years, he wrote.
He refers to Xi’s goal of taking Taiwan as an “obsession” and says the incursions are a way to wear down Taiwanese morale in the face of increasing pressure.
In chapter two, Pluyette analyzes potential Chinese strategies for an invasion and how Taiwan could withstand it.
In the piece, he quoted Tzeng Yi-suo (曾怡碩), an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), as saying the worst-case scenario would be a blockade cutting Taiwan off from the imports it relies on.
Taiwan would find it very difficult to respond to a siege without escalating to war, although China would also face Western sanctions for a blockade, Tzeng said.
Pluyette also wrote on the potential for an amphibious assault and cyberattack, but concludes that Taiwan has the potential to defend itself by taking advantage of the main island’s difficult terrain and weapons like anti-ship missiles, drones and mines.
The article’s third chapter is about Taiwan’s military preparedness, with Pluyette looking at the country’s defense budget and lengthening the duration of military service.
In the piece, retired admiral Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) and INDSR researcher Hsu Chih-hsiang (許智翔) agree that Taiwan is not yet prepared for a conflict with China.
Pluyette cites Lee taking inspiration from Ukraine about how a smaller nation can use asymmetric defense to deter a larger opponent, with Lee saying that Taiwan should use its defense budget on mobile weapons systems instead of large conventional arms.
Pluyette cites Enoch Wu (吳怡農), the founder of the Forward Alliance, a Taiwanese non-governmental organization, as saying that the decisive element in a conflict would be the ability of citizens to resist, similar to Ukraine, and that all of society must contribute to the war effort.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS