WAR CHINA THREATENS TO INVADE TAIWAN

Taiwan’s undersea submarine base plan resurfaces as cross-strait tensions rise​

As new submarines come into service, experts refloat idea to build secret undersea naval base on island’s east coast
Despite defence advantages, Taipei torpedoed the 90s proposal after military purchases fell through
Taipei’s government is being urged to reconsider a proposal to use underwater caves as part of a naval base for a new fleet of submarines that could begin commissioning in 2025.
The island’s mountainous east coast – with steep cliffs and deep sea terrain – would provide an ideal base for such warships, according Taiwanese defence experts.
In particular, geological structures along the eastern coast of Hualien county and its adjacent natural underwater terrain could provide ideal cover for submarines, said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the island’s Republic of Taiwan Naval Academy in Kaohsiung.

China’s military simulates precision strikes on Taiwan after island’s leader returns from US visit​

“Just 100 metres (328 feet) from Hualien’s coastline, the sea is 1,000 metres deep, and 10km (6.2 miles) from the coast, the water is more than 4,000 metres deep, allowing submarines to dive stealthily into the oceanic trench of the Pacific soon after sailing from the base,” Lu said.




“The geological structures of the sea cliffs in Hualien are composed of hard rock, which is suitable to dig deep caves or tunnels.”
Lu’s suggestion came as the self-ruled island’s military on Friday said that sea trials for the first domestically produced diesel-electric powered submarine could begin as early as March next year.

Taiwan plans to develop and build a fleet of at least eight diesel-electric powered attack submarines under its Indigenous Defence Submarine (IDS) Programme, with the first vessel expected to launch in September and go into service in the first half of 2025, according to Taiwanese media.


In the 1990s, Taipei considered installing an underground naval base in the coastal region of Hualien.
The shelved proposal for an underwater submarine base has recently been making waves in Taiwan’s military circles.

An article published by Taiwanese online news portal Up Media called on Taipei to reconsider the naval base cave project, which was originally named “Antung Plan”, or “Secure the East”, since the existing Zuoying Naval Base in southern Kaohsiung is not a deep port and would not be concealed enough even after expansion.

Taiwan’s navy began studying the proposal in 1991 after Washington promised to sell eight diesel-electric submarines and 12 P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft to Taipei.

The pledges prompted the island’s navy to make plans for an underwater U-shaped tunnel inside a coastal ridge in Hualien which would have housed a comprehensive logistics and maintenance underground facility, according to a report published in 2004 by Zhu Xianlong, former deputy director of the Taiwan Research Institute at Beijing Union University.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/art...taiwan-strait?module=hard_link&pgtype=article​

But the idea was abandoned after failed land acquisitions, while the United States could not deliver the diesel-electric warships to Taiwan because its weapon developers had suspended production of the older model vessels, ultimately forcing Taipei to develop its own submarines.

Andrei Chang, editor-in-chief of the Canadian military magazine Kanwa Asian Defence, said hiding valuable military assets inside the mountainous east coast of Taiwan had never been an outdated strategy, because the island’s central mountain range would act as a “natural barrier” to prevent submarines from being attacked by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on the mainland.
The island’s air force has two underground hangars in Hualien and Taitung, which could shield up to 400 fighter jets in the event of a first strike, thanks to a 500km mountain range.
“It’s not safe for subs to berth in naval bases in the island’s south and north ports, where waters are shallow and it is easy to be detected,” Chang said.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a ceremony to inaugurate the production of domestically-made submarines at shipyards in Kaohsiung in 2020. Photo: AP
“A cave sub facility for the Taiwanese navy should be a kind of sloping underwater tunnel inside Hualien’s rocky cliff that is similar to the Swedish underwater submarine base, which cannot be detected by [anti-submarine] aircraft and satellites.”

Muskö Naval Base, a Swedish underwater naval facility south of Stockholm, has an area of several square kilometres and is connected by 20km of underground roads, and a 3km-long tunnel, part of which runs under the sea.
The PLA Navy also has an underground base in Yalong bay on the south of the island of Hainan, which is situated near an oceanic trench that can offer protection.
Ni Lexiong, a naval expert with the Department of Political Science at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said the underwater sub base project would pose a particular threat to the PLA in the event of a conflict.

“The PLA has devised many scenarios for a possible war over Taiwan, including the involvement of aircraft carrier strike groups, in which the ship-borne fighter jets and missiles would be deployed to bombard the island’s key military bases,” Ni said.
“But attack subs that are hidden in an underwater submarine base and oceanic trench may drag down or even ruin the PLA’s plan to seize the island in a quick fight.”

Beijing sees the island as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it. Most countries do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but many are against the use of force to change.
Arthur Ding, an honorary professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei, said it would be too costly for the navy to build an underwater submarine base, even though “it sounds like a good idea”.
“In reality, the navy needs to spend more time to deploy its subs to northern Taipei and southern Kaohsiung for support once the PLA makes pincer attacks to block the Taiwan Strait,” Ding said, referring to the most likely attack scenarios.
“Diesel-electric subs have limited endurance, so it might be better to let the vessels station in the northern and southern ports.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/mil...-drones-focus?module=hard_link&pgtype=article​

Taiwan’s new IDS submarines will eventually replace the four older submarines currently in service in the navy.
Two of the vessels are diesel-electric submarines bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s, while the other two are used US Navy GUPPY submarines.
The vessels, which were designed several decades ago, are used for training only.

PLA buzzes Taiwan as US arms makers eye the island​

---

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has deployed at least 57 warplanes, 19 naval vessels and a military drone to the Taiwan Strait in a fresh eruption of anger over reports the United States is seeking to produce weapons on Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that, in the three-day period leading up to Thursday morning, 19 Chinese warplanes had flown across the Taiwan Strait median line. The ministry is closely monitoring the actions of the Chinese army, it said, and will announce at 6 am Friday Taiwan-time an updated count of the sorties involved.
The incidents happened as 25 US defense contractors attended the Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum in Taipei on Wednesday morning.

Steven Rudder, a retired United States Marine lieutenant general, said during the forum that he and the group of American defense contractors “have been on a mission to have a shared vision of a free, open, resilient, and inclusive relationship not only between the US and Taiwan, but also for the region.”

“Some US defense contractors are considering including Taiwan in their supply chains,” said Julian Kuo, a Taiwanese political scientist and a former member of the Legislative Yuan. “Although it may not involve any transfer of high technology, it is possible that Taiwanese firms will produce ammunition for US firms.”
Kuo said that, with Japan planning to add more than a hundred fuel and munitions depots on the Ryukyu Islands, the US may also establish tens of arms factories in Taiwan. He said such a plan is necessary because it will be difficult to transport ammunition from the Philippines to Taiwan once a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait.
He said Taiwanese firms lack the experience of designing weapons but they are capable of producing parts for US weapon makers.

On Wednesday, the China Daily, an English newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published an editorial titled, “US ups the ante in dirty game but should be forewarned.”
The Chinese version of the editorial was republished by other state media on Thursday with a headline “It is a dangerous step if the US produces weapons in Taiwan.”
“US officials have arranged for a delegation of 25 arms dealers to visit Taiwan from Tuesday apparently to explore the possibility of manufacturing weapons, mainly drones and ammunition, on the island, and ostensibly to support its secessionist-minded leader Tsai Ing-wen’s pro-independence agenda,” writes the author of the article.
“By constantly supplying weapons to Ukraine, the US has failed to deliver weapons to Taiwan on schedule,” he says. “By manufacturing weapons in Taiwan, the US arms dealers as well as the US administration can bypass a lot of problems to sell arms to the island.”

He says the US has crossed a line and that its moves pose a grave challenge to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. By allowing the US arms dealer delegation to visit Taiwan, the Biden administration is “playing with fire” and will ultimately burn itself, he says further.
He adds that the nasty American behavior could change cross-Strait relations or Sino-US ties forever.

Military drones​

In March 2019, Taiwan ordered four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for about US$600 million. The US State Department approved the deal in November 2020. The manufacturer describes the Guardian model as a “maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.”
MQ-9B military drone Photo: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

The deal may have grown smaller in the interim and the drones in question seem to have been changed from the SeaGuardian to the SkyGuardian, a plane that its manufacturer says can deliver persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Defense Post reported on Tuesday that the US Air Force had ordered four MQ-9B SkyGuardians for Taiwan but the order’s size was capped at $217.6 million. The GA-ASI will also supply Taipei with two ground control stations, spare parts and other support equipment.
Lee Shih-Chiang, head of the Taiwanese Defense Ministry’s Department of Strategic Planning, said Thursday that the four drones will be completed in 2025 but the following six months of training will be conducted in the US, instead of Taiwan, due to cost concerns.

Tsao Chin-ping, general officer of Taiwan Air Force, said all the four drones and related equipment will arrive in Taiwan by 2027 and be ready for use six months later.
Taiwan’s Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Taiwan ordered 66 units of F-16V fighters from Lockheed Martin in the US but the delivery of the first batch of the jets has been delayed to the third quarter of 2024 from the last quarter of this year as production was affected by the pandemic.
On February 7 this year, Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) unveiled a series of domestically made attack drones, including one similar to the American AeroVironment Switchblade 300. The NCSIST said it has partnered with private companies to build prototypes of its drones but it did not name its partners.
Switchblade 300 Photo: AeroVironment

China’s reactions​

Following an April 11 Japanese media report that 25 US defense contractors would send their representatives to Taiwan to discuss joint production of drones and ammunition. Taiwanese media reported on April 26 that Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies and AeroVironment would be among the delegates.
“US arms dealers are accustomed to inciting confrontation and conflict and taking advantage of opportunities to make money from wars, and the US government is also accustomed to protecting them,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, said on April 26.

Zhu said that, over the past six years, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had colluded with the US and recklessly purchased US weapons at high prices for a total of US$22 billion. She said Taiwan compatriots are now tied to the “Taiwan independence” chariot.
She said the DPP is not protecting Taiwan but harming and destroying it.
On the same day, the PLA sent a TB-001 military drone to fly around Taiwan. Taiwan said its Sky Bow anti-ballistic missiles at Chihhang Air Base were placed on full alert with some fighter jets taking off on April 27. On Wednesday of this week, China’s BZK-005 drone was seen flying around Taiwan.

Prior to this, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in February that it had added Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Missiles & Defense to its “unreliable entities list” as they sold arms to Taiwan. It ordered the two firms to pay a combined fine of 99 billion yuan (US$14.4 billion) but it was ignored.
The ministry said last month that it had strengthened its curbs by banning the duo from having any trade with Chinese companies. It claimed that the two firms would suffer from failing to obtain Chinese parts and rare earth.
Read: Raytheon, Lockheed take a balloon war hit in China

Japan to deploy Patriot missiles on Miyako Island near Taiwan​

New PAC-3 missile battery closer to Taiwan than North Korea​

1523

By Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2023/05/10 12:45

PAC-3 interceptor test launch. (Lockheed Martin photo)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan announced on Monday (May 8) that it will deploy U.S.-made MIM-104F (PAC-3) Patriot missiles on Miyako Island.
During a press conference, Matsuno Hirokazu, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, announced that Japan Air Self-Defense Force's surface-to-air guided PAC-3 missiles will be deployed at its base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture, reported Jiji Press. Matsuno said this deployment is designed to defend against the threat of potential long-range ballistic missiles fired from North Korea.
Matsuno pointed out that PAC-3 missiles are already deployed at garrisons on Ishigaki and Yonaguni islands. He emphasized that "We are building an appropriate posture," and added that "We will do everything possible to ensure the peace and security of our country."
However, these southern Japanese islands are closer to Taiwan than North Korea. This raises questions as to whether the deployment could also be designed to intercept Chinese missiles.
Miyako Island is 1,459 kilometers from North Korea's southernmost city of Kaesong, but it is only 362 km from Yilan County in northeast Taiwan. Ishigaki Island is 249 km from Yilan and Yonaguni is only 130 km from the county. Japan to deploy Patriot missiles on Miyako Island near Taiwan | Taiwan News | 2023-05-10 12:45:00

jward said:

Taiwan plans to develop and build a fleet of at least eight diesel-electric powered attack submarines under its Indigenous Defence Submarine (IDS) Programme, with the first vessel expected to launch in September and go into service in the first half of 2025, according to Taiwanese media.

Click to expand...

Recent revelations in warfare say it might be a better use of funds to take that money and build forty drone subs. Having five times the tubes available to you, would allow you to patrol/control MUCH more aquatic real estate - with (likely) a dramatically reduced acoustic signature.

Mark D said:

Recent revelations in warfare say it might be a better use of funds to take that money and build forty drone subs. Having five times the tubes available to you, would allow you to patrol/control MUCH more aquatic real estate - with (likely) a dramatically reduced acoustic signature.

Click to expand...

Yeah. They just have to make sure to harden the comms between the UUV and its controllers. You don't want the modern equivalent of what happened with the Enigma machines and the Kriegsmarine U-Boats.

Housecarl said:

Yeah. They just have to make sure to harden the comms between the UUV and its controllers. You don't want the modern equivalent of what happened with the Enigma machines and the Kriegsmarine U-Boats.

Click to expand...

Have you read-up on how the DoD has played with Hedera to harden/encrypt Comms? If the onboard AI is good enough to be reliably autonomous with the last mission set, breaking the livestream isn't that much of an issue - we'll connect later.

William Yang
@WilliamYang120
9h

Britain must boost defence cooperation with #Taiwan and use “hard power” to protect it from Chinese aggression, Liz Truss will say during her visit to Taiwan this week.
The former prime minister is expected to say that if the West wants to avoid a war erupting in the South China Sea it must “get real” about military cooperation, taking a “coordinated approach” on what arms are sent to Taiwan.
She will also urge the UK Government to support Taiwan joining its new Pacific trade pact, calling it “the most consequential place in the world” because it is “on the front line of the global battle for freedom”.
In a speech in Japan in February, she hailed Taiwan as a “beacon of freedom” and warned that the West could be repeating a mistake it had made in relation to Russia and Ukraine by not doing more to forestall a potential Chinese invasion.
In a speech at the Prospect Foundation think-tank on Wednesday, Ms Truss is expected to tell her audience that she decided to visit the island “to increase awareness around the world of the position you are in”.
“I am also here because I believe this is the most consequential place in the world – in the most consequential struggle of our time,” she is expected to say.
“Where we are today is on the front line of the global battle for freedom. The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in an ideological struggle with the free world – they are open about that… This is a battle of ideas as much as it is an attempt to grab power on the global stage.”
In the speech, she will call for more defence coordination with Taiwan.
She is expected to say: “We cannot pretend there can be meaningful deterrence without hard power.
And if we are serious about preventing conflict in the South China Sea, we need to get real about military and defence cooperation. We need a coordinated approach on what exports are licensed to be sent to Taiwan.”
View: https://twitter.com/WilliamYang120/status/1657561357687091200?s=20

jward said:

William Yang
@WilliamYang120
9h

Britain must boost defence cooperation with #Taiwan and use “hard power” to protect it from Chinese aggression, Liz Truss will say during her visit to Taiwan this week.
The former prime minister is expected to say that if the West wants to avoid a war erupting in the South China Sea it must “get real” about military cooperation, taking a “coordinated approach” on what arms are sent to Taiwan.
She will also urge the UK Government to support Taiwan joining its new Pacific trade pact, calling it “the most consequential place in the world” because it is “on the front line of the global battle for freedom”.
In a speech in Japan in February, she hailed Taiwan as a “beacon of freedom” and warned that the West could be repeating a mistake it had made in relation to Russia and Ukraine by not doing more to forestall a potential Chinese invasion.
In a speech at the Prospect Foundation think-tank on Wednesday, Ms Truss is expected to tell her audience that she decided to visit the island “to increase awareness around the world of the position you are in”.
“I am also here because I believe this is the most consequential place in the world – in the most consequential struggle of our time,” she is expected to say.
“Where we are today is on the front line of the global battle for freedom. The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in an ideological struggle with the free world – they are open about that… This is a battle of ideas as much as it is an attempt to grab power on the global stage.”
In the speech, she will call for more defence coordination with Taiwan.
She is expected to say: “We cannot pretend there can be meaningful deterrence without hard power.
And if we are serious about preventing conflict in the South China Sea, we need to get real about military and defence cooperation. We need a coordinated approach on what exports are licensed to be sent to Taiwan.”

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1657561357687091200

View: https://twitter.com/WilliamYang120/status/1657561357687091200?s=20

Click to expand...

Wasn’t she pm for about an hour and a half?

northern watch said:

View attachment 413252


View attachment 413251

Click to expand...

hmmm
View: https://twitter.com/USNINews/status/1658188302954946574?s=20

Taiwan pledges to protect Filipino workers if China attacks​

---

1. Home
2. Politics

National Police Agency has prepared 89,000 shelters that can accommodate total population​

Soldiers of 74th Army Group of the People's Liberation Army take part in a battle drill in a coastal area of Guangdong province on June 1, 2020. (...

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of the Philippines' de facto embassy in Taiwan said that the Taiwan government has taken measures to ensure the safety of Filipino workers if China uses military force against Taiwan.

Silvestre Bello III, Chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), Manila's representative office in Taiwan, was cited by the Presidential Communications Office as saying that the National Police Agency has readied "89,000 shelters that can accommodate more than the total population of Taiwan." At a media forum in Quezon City on Saturday (May 13), Bello reported stated, “I met with the Director General together with the head of the home Civilian Defense of Taiwan, and they assured us that they will also protect our countrymen there."

According to Bello, there are approximately 160,000 Filipino migrant workers employed in Taiwan's manufacturing plants, accounting for 90% of the workforce. He added that other Filipinos are employed in Taiwan as teachers, farmers, and hospitality workers.

During a speech at the 8th Manila Forum on April 14, Ambassador of China to the Philippines Huang Xilian (黃溪連) referenced the fate of 160,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan, if Manila supports the U.S. and Taiwan independence. This elevated concerns among OFWs regarding their safety in Taiwan if China takes military action.

At Saturday's press conference, Bello sought to reassure concerned Filipinos, saying that “in Taiwan, everything is normal.” Bello said that in the unlikely event of a national emergency, "like for example, an earthquake or even war—the Taiwanese government is prepared not only to protect their own people, but even Filipinos, especially our workers."

China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers​

China's military says it is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence” as the U.S. prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons to the self-governing island democracy
ByThe Associated Press
May 16, 2023, 9:13 AM



BEIJING -- China’ is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence,” its military said Tuesday, as the U.S. reportedly prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons and other military assistance to the self-governing island democracy.

A recent increase in exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries is an “extremely wrong and dangerous move,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said in a statement and video posted online.

China’s People’s Liberation Army “continues to strengthen military training and preparations and will resolutely smash any form of Taiwanese independence secession along with attempts at outside interference, and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tan said, in a reference to Taiwan’s closest ally, the United States.

China claims the island of 23 million people as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary.

With the world’s largest navy, latest-generation fighter jets and a huge arsenal of ballistic missiles, China has been upping its threats by sending planes and warships into waters and airspace around Taiwan. With more than 2 million members, the PLA also ranks as the world's largest standing military, although transporting even a portion of the force in the event of an invasion is considered a huge logistical challenge.


Along with daily air and sea incursions around Taiwan, Beijing has held military exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, seen in part as a rehearsal for a blockade or invasion that would have massive consequences for security and economies worldwide.

Such actions seek to harass Taiwan's military and intimidate politicians and voters who will choose a new president and legislature next year.

The moves appear to have had limited effect, with most Taiwanese firmly in favor of maintaining their de facto independent status. Politicians and other public figures from Europe and the U.S. have also been making frequent trips to Taipei to show their support, despite their countries' lack of formal diplomatic ties in deference to Beijing.

Tan's comments were prompted by a question from an unidentified reporter about reports that U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to approve the sale of $500 million in arms to Taiwan, as well as sending more than 100 military personnel to evaluate training methods and offer suggestions for improving the island's defenses.

Taiwan enjoys strong support from both the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties, which have called on the Biden administration to follow through on nearly $19 billion in military items approved for sale but not yet delivered to Taiwan.


Administration officials have blamed the delayed deliveries on bottlenecks in production related to issues from the COVID-19 pandemic to limited capacity and increased demand for arms to assist Ukraine. Biden's move would allow the export of items from existing U.S. military stockpiles, speeding up the delivery of at least some of the hardware Taiwan needs to deter or repel any Chinese attack.

Among the items on backorder are Harpoon anti-ship missiles, F-16 fighter jets, shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a multiple rocket and missile launcher mounted on a truck that has become a crucial weapon for Ukrainian troops battling Russian invasion forces.

Tan's comments were in line with Beijing's standard tone on what it calls the “core of China's core interests.” The two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949 and Beijing considers bringing Taiwan under its control as key to asserting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Attempts to “seek independence by relying on the United States” and “seek independence by military might” are a “dead end,” Tan said.

With China-U.S. relations at a historic low and Taiwanese unreceptive to Beijing's demands for political concessions on unification, concerns are rising about the likelihood of an open conflict involving all three sides and possibly U.S. treaty allies such as Japan.


China's diplomatic and economic support for Russia following its invasion of Ukraine has also increased tensions with Washington. Beijing is believed to be closely studying Moscow's military failures in the conflict, while the Western will to back Kyiv is seen by some as a test of its determination to side with Taiwan in the event of a conflict with China. China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers

dekachin
@dekach1n
5m
Replying to @ElbridgeColby
This is the largest ship in Taiwan's navy at 10k tons. Taiwan plans to build more. It has 0 value in a war with China. Small defensive subs, missile boats, & most of all minelayers, would be justified.

Perhaps the ROC is following Chairman Chiang's WW2 strategy: let the US fight

danielboon said:

China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers​

China's military says it is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence” as the U.S. prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons to the self-governing island democracy
ByThe Associated Press
May 16, 2023, 9:13 AM



BEIJING -- China’ is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence,” its military said Tuesday, as the U.S. reportedly prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons and other military assistance to the self-governing island democracy.

A recent increase in exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries is an “extremely wrong and dangerous move,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei said in a statement and video posted online.

China’s People’s Liberation Army “continues to strengthen military training and preparations and will resolutely smash any form of Taiwanese independence secession along with attempts at outside interference, and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tan said, in a reference to Taiwan’s closest ally, the United States.

China claims the island of 23 million people as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary.

With the world’s largest navy, latest-generation fighter jets and a huge arsenal of ballistic missiles, China has been upping its threats by sending planes and warships into waters and airspace around Taiwan. With more than 2 million members, the PLA also ranks as the world's largest standing military, although transporting even a portion of the force in the event of an invasion is considered a huge logistical challenge.


Along with daily air and sea incursions around Taiwan, Beijing has held military exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, seen in part as a rehearsal for a blockade or invasion that would have massive consequences for security and economies worldwide.

Such actions seek to harass Taiwan's military and intimidate politicians and voters who will choose a new president and legislature next year.

The moves appear to have had limited effect, with most Taiwanese firmly in favor of maintaining their de facto independent status. Politicians and other public figures from Europe and the U.S. have also been making frequent trips to Taipei to show their support, despite their countries' lack of formal diplomatic ties in deference to Beijing.

Tan's comments were prompted by a question from an unidentified reporter about reports that U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to approve the sale of $500 million in arms to Taiwan, as well as sending more than 100 military personnel to evaluate training methods and offer suggestions for improving the island's defenses.

Taiwan enjoys strong support from both the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties, which have called on the Biden administration to follow through on nearly $19 billion in military items approved for sale but not yet delivered to Taiwan.


Administration officials have blamed the delayed deliveries on bottlenecks in production related to issues from the COVID-19 pandemic to limited capacity and increased demand for arms to assist Ukraine. Biden's move would allow the export of items from existing U.S. military stockpiles, speeding up the delivery of at least some of the hardware Taiwan needs to deter or repel any Chinese attack.

Among the items on backorder are Harpoon anti-ship missiles, F-16 fighter jets, shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a multiple rocket and missile launcher mounted on a truck that has become a crucial weapon for Ukrainian troops battling Russian invasion forces.

Tan's comments were in line with Beijing's standard tone on what it calls the “core of China's core interests.” The two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949 and Beijing considers bringing Taiwan under its control as key to asserting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Attempts to “seek independence by relying on the United States” and “seek independence by military might” are a “dead end,” Tan said.

With China-U.S. relations at a historic low and Taiwanese unreceptive to Beijing's demands for political concessions on unification, concerns are rising about the likelihood of an open conflict involving all three sides and possibly U.S. treaty allies such as Japan.


China's diplomatic and economic support for Russia following its invasion of Ukraine has also increased tensions with Washington. Beijing is believed to be closely studying Moscow's military failures in the conflict, while the Western will to back Kyiv is seen by some as a test of its determination to side with Taiwan in the event of a conflict with China. China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers

Click to expand...

also a standalone

jward said:

also a standalone

INTL - China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers

China says ready to 'smash' Taiwan self-rule as US prepares major arms package, sends advisers China's military says it is prepared to “resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence” as the U.S. prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons to the self-governing island democracy ByThe...

www.timebomb2000.com

Click to expand...

Stories like this are why I ponder the naming convention for Rapid Dragon... Rapid DRAGON.

We are SPECIFICALLY planning to engage a vast number of ships simultaneously.

"Interesting Times" indeed.

Mark D said:

Stories like this are why I ponder the naming convention for Rapid Dragon... Rapid DRAGON.

We are SPECIFICALLY planning to engage a vast number of ships simultaneously.

"Interesting Times" indeed.

Click to expand...

Its a slick system. Forward deployed to Japan it could knock out a lot of any invasion force quickly.

mecoastie said:

Its a slick system. Forward deployed to Japan it could knock out a lot of any invasion force quickly.

Click to expand...

And all of those bases, including US territory and CONUS, will be on the receiving end of PLA/CCP strikes in the first hour of an attack upon Taiwan. Things just get worse from there.....

Housecarl said:

And all of those bases, including US territory and CONUS, will be on the receiving end of PLA/CCP strikes in the first hour of an attack upon Taiwan. Things just get worse from there.....

Click to expand...

I totally agree with you, all those migrants will make a decisive difference.

northern watch said:

I totally agree with you, all those migrants will make a decisive difference.

Click to expand...

I was thinking in terms of not covertly inserted SF teams but DF-5 AND DF-41 ICBMs.

EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
10h

Elon Musk says tension between U.S. and China 'should be a concern for everyone'
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1658629660459118594?s=20

Chinese embassy calls Liz Truss’s trip to Taiwan a ‘dangerous political stunt’​

Former prime minister will challenge Rishi Sunak to deliver on rhetoric about Beijing being a ‘threat’ to UK

Nadeem Badshah
Tue 16 May 2023
17.30 EDT
Last modified on Tue 16 May 2023
18.57 EDT


Liz Truss’s trip to Taiwan this week is a “dangerous political stunt”, the Chinese embassy in London has said, as the former prime minister prepares to call on Rishi Sunak to declare Beijing a “threat” to UK security.
She is expected to use a speech in Taipei City on Wednesday to challenge the prime minister to deliver on his rhetoric during last summer’s Conservative party leadership contest, when he declared China “the biggest-long term threat to Britain”. He also promised to close all 30 of the UK’s Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese culture on campus in higher education and in some British schools.

In a pre-briefed extract of her speech to the Prospect Foundation, Truss is expected to say: “Last summer the now British prime minister described China as ‘the biggest long-term threat to Britain’, and said the Confucius Institutes should be closed. He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently.
“The UK’s integrated review needs to be amended to state clearly that China is a threat. Confucius Institutes should be closed down immediately. Instead, the service could be provided by organisations with the support of Hong Kong nationals and Taiwanese nationals who have come to the UK, on a free basis.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said Truss’s visit to Taiwan was a “dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK”. The statement on the embassy website added: “We urge the relevant British politician to correct her wrongdoing, stop making political shows with the Taiwan question and stop conniving at and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces.”

Truss is the most senior British politician to visit the country since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s, and comes at a time when relations between Britain and China have been at their most fractious in decades.
The former Conservative leader is also expected to urge the west not to work with China, warning that totalitarian regimes “don’t tell the truth”.
“There are still too many in the west who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong; that there are bigger issues than Chinese global dominance or the future of freedom and democracy,” she is expected to say. “But without freedom and democracy there is nothing else.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist party in control of the mainland. The island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China but Beijing has insisted it must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

A UK government spokesperson said it was in Britain’s interests to “continue engagement” with China while recognising the challenges the country presents, adding: “We have always been clear that China remains the biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security.
“That’s why our integrated review refresh sets out a new approach to dealing with the challenge which China presents for the UK and the wider world.”

Teddy Locsin Jr.
@teddyboylocsin
1m

Asian allies have zero obligation to help Taiwan because it was the US that dictated to Asian allies to drop Taiwan in favor of the One Beijing Policy. America is entitled to order Asian allies just once on any specific subject and better not change its mind.
View: https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1659273298818080781?s=20

jward said:

Teddy Locsin Jr.
@teddyboylocsin
1m

Asian allies have zero obligation to help Taiwan because it was the US that dictated to Asian allies to drop Taiwan in favor of the One Beijing Policy. America is entitled to order Asian allies just once on any specific subject and better not change its mind.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1659273298818080781

View: https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1659273298818080781?s=20

Click to expand...

Hummm.....

An interesting point.

Marine helicopters drop supplies to ballistic missile submarine in the Pacific, a first​

By
Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes • May 18, 2023

---

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Marine helicopter squadron from Okinawa for the first time delivered supplies to an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine transiting the Philippine Sea, a practice integral to the Corps’ island-hopping doctrine.


Two CH-53E Super Stallions on May 9 dropped “mission-essential equipment” to the USS Maine by a “vertical replenishment,” according to a III Marine Expeditionary Force news release Wednesday. The Super Stallions are assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.


Airborne delivery allows Navy assets like the Maine to resupply without disrupting “maritime security operations,” a key tenet of the Marine Corps’ role as a “stand-in force,” the statement said.


Stand-in force is a concept born from Commandant Gen. David Berger’s Force Design 2030, the operational doctrine at all levels of the Marine Corps, especially in the Pacific where the U.S. military is training to deter potential Chinese aggression and maintain open sea lanes. It calls for inserting smaller, mobile units within range of enemy missiles to seize and hold key islands and deny enemy vessels access to the surrounding seas.


The “1st MAW’s persistent and forward presence makes it the backbone of the stand-in force’s expeditionary capability,” Col. Christopher Murray, Marine Aircraft Group 36 commander, said in the release. “The intricacies of seamlessly sustaining the force through naval integration and aviation-delivered logistics is a testament to our adaptability, readiness, and ability to project power within the Indo-Pacific.”



A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion prepares to drop supplies to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maine in the Philippine Sea, May 9, 2023. (Emily Weiss/U.S. Marine Corps)



The May 9 drop was the first of its kind to an Ohio-class submarine, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman Maj. Rob Martins said in an email Thursday.


The Marine Corps does not discuss mission-specific cargo due to operational security, Martins said. Photos posted to Defense Department websites showed a black, plastic case being attached to one of the Super Stallion’s integrated hoists.

The hoists secure the cargo, guide its descent to a designated area, release and retrieve the hoist cable, Martins said. The Super Stallion, a heavy-lift variant of the CH-53 helicopter, can carry 16 tons of cargo at sea level for 50 nautical miles and return.

Martins declined to discuss how often the sea-service replenishes other submarine classes in the region. He referred all submarine-related questions to Pacific Fleet’s Submarine Force, which did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.
The Maine was commissioned in 1995 and is homeported at Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Wash. The nuclear-powered sub hosts 155 sailors and features an armament of MK-48 torpedoes and up to 20 Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads.

EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3
2h

President of Taiwan: No one can change the status quo in the region using force.

'War is not an option', Taiwan president says amid China tensions​

May 19, 202310:39 PM
CDT Last Updated 29 min ago

---

[1/3] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at Taoyuan International Airport upon returning from a trip to the U.S. and Central America, in Taoyuan, Taiwan April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia... Read more
TAIPEI, May 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Saturday to maintain the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait amid high tensions with China, which has stepped up military pressure on the democratically governed island.

Taiwan will not provoke and will not bow to Chinese pressure, Tsai said in a speech in the presidential office in Taipei marking the seventh anniversary of her governance.
China, which considers Taiwan as its own and threatens to bring the island under its control if necessary, has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty since Tsai took office in 2016.
Beijing has rebuffed calls for talks from Tsai, regarding her to be a separatist. Tsai has repeatedly vowed to defend Taiwan's freedom and democracy.

"War is not an option. Neither side can unilaterally change the status quo with non-peaceful means," Tsai said. "Maintaining the status quo of peace and stability is the consensus for both the world and Taiwan."
"Although Taiwan is surrounded by risks, it is by no means a risk maker. We are a responsible risk manager and Taiwan will stand together with democratic countries and communities around the world to jointly defuse the risks," she said.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations agreed they were seeking a peaceful resolution to issues on Taiwan, the host of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, said on Friday.
Tsai said Taiwan officials are in discussions with U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on sending $500 million worth of weapons aid to Taiwan, adding that the aid was meant to address deliveries of weapons delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She stressed the global importance of Taiwan's supply chain, which produces most of the world's advanced semiconductor chips, and vowed to keep the most advanced chip technologies and research and development centres in Taiwan.
Taiwan is gearing up for a key presidential election in mid-January, with China tensions set to top the campaign agenda.
Representing Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party for the key vote in mid-January, New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih said on Saturday that Taiwan faces a choice between "peace and war" under Tsai's rule and he vowed to keep regional stability through unspecified "dialogue and exchanges".

"The fears for war will never drive away the hope for peace," Hou said at an event in Taipei to kick off his election campaign, vowing to defend the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name.
Hou is running against Taiwan Vice President William Lai from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The KMT, which favours close ties with China, has framed the 2024 vote as a choice between war and peace.
In the presidential office when asked about the opposition's stance on the elections, Tsai said maintaining peace should be the consensus for all political parties in Taiwan, and that one should not "sell the fears of war for elections gains."
Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Indo-Pacific News - Geo-Politics & Military News
@IndoPac_Info

1) Striking distance: #China arms up along the #Taiwan Strait
Since February China's Eastern Theater Command has inducted several new military platforms including multiple launch rocket systems, propelled mortars, and armoured fighting vehicles.
View: https://twitter.com/IndoPac_Info/status/1659960225355689986?s=20

---

Indo-Pacific News - Geo-Politics & Military News
@IndoPac_Info
9h

2) A result of this buildup is rising tensions. The US is bolstering political & military support for Taiwan.
“We aim to deter and deny China's aggression through a combination of Taiwan's own defences, its partnership with the US & growing support from like-minded democracies.”
View: https://twitter.com/IndoPac_Info/status/1659960228648214528?s=20

Taiwan plans simulation of enemy landing on 3 beaches | Taiwan News | 2023-05-20 15:04:00
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1659941398806659081?s=20

---

'A safer Taiwan means a safer world': Tsai Ing-wen | Taiwan News | 2023-05-20 10:52:00
View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1659943246640865287?s=20

Update: Chinese Foreign Ministry: Our firm commitment to a defensive nuclear strategy and our nuclear capabilities are at the level required by our security.

Chinese Foreign Ministry: What the Group of Seven is doing obstructs international peace and undermines regional stability.
Chinese Foreign Ministry: The failure of the Group of Seven to address opposition to Taiwan independence seriously affects the peace and stability of the Strait.
Chinese Foreign Ministry: The Group of Seven's failure to address opposition to Taiwan's independence represents collusion with the pro-independence forces.
Chinese Foreign Ministry: The Group of Seven used issues related to China to tarnish our reputation and interfere in our internal affairs.

Taiwan Won’t Get US F-16s Until 2024 Thanks to Problems Beyond Covid​

---

(Bloomberg) -- Delivery of Taiwan’s first new F-16 fighters built by Lockheed Martin Corp. has been delayed by problems deeper than the Covid-related supply chain issues cited previously, according to the US Air Force.
“Complex developmental challenges” have been encountered, and the US government, Taiwan and Lockheed “are actively working to mitigate these delays,” according to an Air Force statement flagging the previously undisclosed technical issue without elaboration. “We are committed to do everything we can to find solutions to deliver these aircraft, fully capable, to our partners as soon as possible.”

The F-16 has been in service since 1979, and Taiwan already has older models. The latest “Block 70” fighters are equipped with a “fire control radar” made by Northrop Grumman Corp. that’s designed to allow the firing of precision-guided munitions from greater distances. The first Block 70 flew in January, and Bahrain, another Block 70 customer, has taken delivery of its first jet.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the order is being “actively handled by the US to help with shipment and delivery schedule.” The delivery of all 66 planes will still be completed by 2026 as planned, it said.
Some of the new Block 70 fighters “have been flying for five months, and Bahrain’s aircraft have rolled off the line and have begun deliveries, so there’s probably a Taiwan-specific equipment issue at work here,” said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an aviation consultant group.
The Air Force and Lockheed declined to say whether the “development challenges” are also affecting the newest F-16s being sold to Bahrain, Jordan, Slovakia, Morrocco and Bulgaria.

Taiwan Backlog​

US lawmakers have criticized a potential $19 billion backlog of US military contracts for Taiwan, a sensitive matter as tensions grow over the possibility that China may eventually use its military to enforce its claim to the self-ruled island.
Read more: Top Taiwan Lawmaker Visits US Capitol to Meet China Panel

But Undersecretary of Defense William LaPlante told an industry conference in March that a large part of the backlog “is the production line of the F-16,” not because it’s slow but because prior orders must be filled.
The new F-16s are being assembled at Lockheed’s Greenville, South Carolina, facility.
Informed of the technical issue, senior State Department and Pentagon officials “immediately reached out to Lockheed Martin” and traveled to the Greenville site “to meet directly with company executives to discuss this problem,” the Air Force said.
Lockheed spokeswoman Liz Lutz said in a statement that the company is working “closely with the US government to address challenges in support of US security objectives.”
--With assistance from Cindy Wang.

washingtonpost.com

To avert war with China, the U.S. must prioritize Taiwan over Ukraine​

---

Elbridge A. Colby served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development from 2017 to 2018, and is the author of “The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict.” Alexander Velez-Green served as national security adviser to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo).

Many argue that the United States does not need to choose between aiding Ukraine and deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. This is a comforting but dangerous delusion. The sad truth: It does.
The main question is how to do so. The answer is by focusing U.S. resources on Taiwan’s defense against China, by far the United States’ strongest rival, while relying primarily on European allies to defend against a weakened Russia.
The Pentagon regularly says that preparing for conflict with China over Taiwan is its top priority. And rightly so. If Taiwan falls to a Chinese assault, the United States’ military position in the region, and Asian states’ confidence in Washington’s ability and resolve to confront Beijing, will both be gravely weakened. The result would be a major step toward Chinese hegemony over the world’s largest and most important market. If China can establish such dominance, it will be able to supplant the United States as the world’s premier economy and use that leverage to diminish our prosperity and interfere in our national life — with dire implications for Americans’ everyday lives.

But the United States’ ability to prevent China from conquering Taiwan has been severely eroded in recent years. China’s navy already dwarfs our own; its air and space forces are rapidly improving; and its missile forces threaten to prevent the U.S. military from intervening effectively to defend Taiwan. Even the normally confident commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command recently testified that trends in the Pacific are going “in the wrong direction.” As a result, it is now a very serious question whether the United States can defeat a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Restoring deterrence is still possible — if we get Taiwan and U.S. forces in Asia what they need as quickly as possible. But we cannot expect to do that while delivering so much aid to Ukraine. The fact is that both Ukraine and Taiwan need many of the same weapons, the United States has only limited quantities of those weapons in its available stockpiles, and our defense industry will not be able to produce enough of these critical capabilities for years. These trade-offs will worsen as China’s historic military buildup continues and the war in Ukraine goes on.

So how do we ensure Taiwan can be defended while still securing important but secondary U.S. interests in Europe?
First, the United States must accelerate delivery of critical weapons to Taiwan, including strike capabilities such as HIMARS, ATACMS, GMLRS and drones, as well as defensive systems such as NASAMS, Patriots, Harpoons, Stingers and Javelins. Americans have grown familiar with the names of several of these military systems because the United States has sent many of them to Ukraine. But Taiwan also desperately needs them — including weapons for its ground forces that would confront an amphibious invasion.
Josh Rogin

---

counterpointTaiwan is urging the U.S. not to abandon Ukraine
To accomplish this, the Biden administration should use presidential drawdown authority to rapidly send weapons to Taiwan from U.S. stockpiles, as the administration has announced it will do. But it must favor Taiwan over Ukraine for any weapons that both need.

Unfortunately, U.S. stockpiles are depleted as a result of aid to Ukraine, so Taiwan will be forced to rely more heavily on the slower foreign military sales process. To help it do so as quickly as possible, the administration should put Taiwan at the front of the line for foreign military sales as well — ahead of Ukraine but also ahead of partners in the Middle East and beyond.

At the same time, Washington should ramp up security assistance to Taiwan. Such assistance can facilitate both drawdowns and new sales. But it should not be a blank check. Instead, U.S. aid to Taiwan should be strictly conditioned on Taiwan increasing defense spending and embracing an asymmetric defense strategy.
Second, the administration and Congress need to urgently expand U.S. defense production by reinvigorating our anemic defense industrial base — and fast. As they do so, it is imperative to focus on boosting inventories for the Pacific ahead of Europe or elsewhere. Where trade-offs arise because of limited funds, suppliers, labor, components or other constraints, Taiwan’s defense must take precedence.

Finally, for all its talk about deterring China, the administration has made Ukraine’s defense its clear priority with regular high-level engagement, congressional briefings and requests for funds. By contrast, the administration left U.S. Indo-Pacific Command with almost $3.5 billion in unfunded priorities this year. The administration must treat Taiwan’s defense with far greater urgency, including by ensuring that U.S. forces in Asia receive essential intelligence resources and that the United States’ political capital is laser-focused on bolstering our defensive perimeter in Asia.
None of this means we should abandon Europe. Instead, our allies must take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense, relying on the United States mainly for its extended nuclear deterrent and select conventional capabilities that do not detract from our ability to deter China. Our European allies must also take the lead in helping Ukraine.

This redistribution of labor within NATO is not just a matter of fairness. It is also imperative if Europe is to be able to deter and defend itself against Russia while the United States focuses on the much bigger challenge from China. The Russia threat is not going away. We and Europe should prepare accordingly.
Prioritization is never easy — but it is long overdue. The administration and Congress have rightly described China as the preeminent threat to the United States, but they have not acted with the focus, scale and urgency needed to address it. The window for facing the Chinese threat to Taiwan, with all that entails for Americans’ concrete interests, is fast closing. Failing to do so could lead to the most consequential conflict since World War II.

Do we think that China is just going to wait around for Taiwan to acquire all of these weapons to make it a more "fair fight"?
We say to Taiwan: "Don't worry, we'll get you the weapon systems you bought by 2026."
2026 rolls around: There is no Taiwan anymore, there's no much left of anything anymore.

Masterchief117 said:

Do we think that China is just going to wait around for Taiwan to acquire all of these weapons to make it a more "fair fight"?
We say to Taiwan: "Don't worry, we'll get you the weapon systems you bought by 2026."
2026 rolls around: There is no Taiwan anymore, there's no much left of anything anymore.

Click to expand...

With how this has been going on one would think so....

Ben Lewis
@OfficialBen_L
46s

This is a significant development. Link-22 standardization will impact how U.S./Taiwan forces can work together.
View: https://twitter.com/OfficialBen_L/status/1661902671492644865?s=20