How hard would it be for China to invade Taiwan? | Project Force
Al Jazeera English – 4-4-2022
When Russian forces went into Ukraine, concern grew in Taiwan that an attack by China could be next. But how difficult would it be for China to invade Taiwan? @Alex Gatopoulos takes a look, in Project Force.
What’s the fallout from Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan? | Inside Story
Al Jazeera English – 4-8-2022
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ended her controversial tour of Taiwan.
Despite warnings from China, the most senior American politician to visit in 25 years pledged an ‘iron-clad’ commitment to the self-ruled Island’s democracy.
Beijing is responding with live-fire military drills and import bans.
So how will Taipei and Washington deal with the consequences?
Presenter: Kim Vinnell
Guests:
Vincent Chao – Former Director of the Political Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.
June Teufel Dreyer – Professor of Political Science, University of Miami.
Henry Huiyao Wang- Founder and President, Center for China and Globalization.
The most advanced category of mass-produced semiconductors — used in smartphones, military technology and much more — is known as 5 nm. A single company in Taiwan, known as TSMC, makes about 90 percent of them. U.S. factories make none.
The U.S.’s struggles to keep pace in semiconductor manufacturing have already had economic downsides: Many jobs in the industry pay more than $100,000 a year, and the U.S. has lost out on them. Longer term, the situation also has the potential to cause a national security crisis: If China were to invade Taiwan and cut off exports of semiconductors, the American military would be at risk of being overmatched by its main rival for global supremacy.
What lessons is Xi Jinping learning from the war in Ukraine?
The optimistic answer is that the lessons he is learning make an invasion of Taiwan less likely. First, Xi may be wondering how well his untested military would perform if told to invade. Surely the abysmal performance of Russian troops must make Xi, and every other high official in China, wonder what happens if stiff resistance is met. Like the Russian army, but unlike the U.S. military and our allies who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, the People’s Liberation Army or PLA is simply untried. And Xi must fear that a military defeat could threaten his own hold on power.
Testimony from officials in the State Department and Defense Department this week included subtle but important shifts in the U.S. policy toward Taiwan
The ground shifted under Washington’s policy toward Taiwan on December 8, a shift no less seismic for being subtle and semantic. During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner asserted that Taiwan is “a critical node within the first island chain (in the Western Pacific), anchoring a network of U.S. allies and partners … that is critical to the region’s security and critical to the defense of vital U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian attends a news conference in Beijing, China September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
23 Nov 2020 04:35PM(Updated: 23 Nov 2020 05:38PM) CNA
BEIJING: China will respond to the reported visit of a US Navy admiral to Taiwan and firmly opposes any military relations between Taipei and Washington, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday (Nov 23).
FILE PHOTO: Flags of Taiwan and US are placed for a meeting In Taipei, Taiwan on Mar 27, 2018. (File photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
23 Nov 2020 08:56AM(Updated: 23 Nov 2020 09:52AM) CNA
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TAIPEI: A two-star Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday (Nov 22), in a high-level trip that could vex China.
In this file photo released by Taiwan’s Military News Agency, Taiwan war planes are parked on a highway during an exercise to simulate a response to a Chinese attack on its airfields in Changhua in southern Taiwan. Taiwan said Tuesday, Oct 27, 2020, that recent proposed of U.S. sales of missiles and other arms systems will boost the island’s ability to credibly defend itself, amid rising threats from China. (Military News Agency via AP, File)
TAIPEI: The US and Taiwan are stepping up cooperation in a newly created economic dialogue, in another move from the outgoing Trump administration to increase official exchanges with the self-ruled island.
File photo of two US-made Taiwanese F-16 fighter jets. (Photo: AFP/Sam Yeh)
22 Oct 2020 05:44PM
BEIJING: China threatened on Thursday (Oct 22) to retaliate against the latest US arms sale to Taiwan, as the island welcomed the weapons package but said it was not looking to get into an arms race with Beijing.
The Trump administration has ramped up support for Taiwan through arms sales and visits by senior US officials, adding to tensions between Beijing and Washington, already heightened by disagreements over the South China Sea, Hong Kong, human rights and trade.
By Adam TaylorOctober 15, 2020 at 12:00 AM EDT Washington Post
The U.S.-Taiwan security relationship has been purposely ambiguous for four decades. But amid increasing Chinese threats of invasion, America’s commitment to Taiwan needs to be clearer, the island’s de facto ambassador to the United States said this week.
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration is expected to soon approve another major weapons sale including drones to Taiwan, according to congressional and administration sources. The move comes as the US and Taiwan are strengthening ties and amid mounting tensions between Washington and Beijing.The US is preparing to sell seven packages of weapons systems to Taiwan, a congressional aide told CNN, saying it was unclear when the Congress would be formally notified about the sales, as is required by law.A US official said that the administration will soon formally approve a large sale of MQ-9B Reaper drones. The value of the drones and associated equipment and program support is estimated to be about $600 million.
The trip by Undersecretary of State Keith Krach reportedly to discuss new weapons sales comes amid heightened tensions between Taiwan and the much larger military on the mainland.
By Paul D. Shinkman, Senior Writer, National SecuritySept. 17, 2020, at 10:27 a.m.
China Threatens U.S. Over Taiwan Visit
Undersecretary of State Keith Krach exits a plane upon arrival at the air force base airport on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Taipei, Taiwan.(CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY POOL/AP)
File photo of Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State For Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, and the latest high-ranking US official to visit Taiwan. (Photo: AFP/Riccardo Savi)
US military forces fire a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket during the annual Philippines-US live fire amphibious landing exercise (PHIBLEX) at Crow Valley in Capas, Tarlac province, north of Manila, Philippines Oct 10, 2016. (Photo: REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco)
WASHINGTON: The United States plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems, including mines, cruise missiles and drones to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on China.