Taiwan Warns That China Could Mount Successful Invasion by 2020
October 9, 2013 Leave a comment
Taiwan Warns That China Could Mount Successful Invasion by 2020
By Debra Mao and Argin Chang – Oct 8, 2013
China may be able to successfully invade Taiwan by 2020 as it develops technology to prevent allies such as the U.S. from coming to the island’s aid, the Taiwanese defense ministry said. A military modernization campaign has seen China’s People’s Liberation Army enhance its ability to make long-range precision strikes and develop so-called area-denial technology, the ministry said in its 2013 National Defense Report.“As the PLA continues to grow and proactively builds its anti-access/area denial strategy, and as it develops long-range precision strike weaponry and extends its overseas power projection capability, they will become a serious threat to the security of our nation,” the report said.
The assessment comes as China and the island it considers a breakaway province have deepened economic ties. Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled he wants a political resolution, saying at a regional summit this month that the two sides can’t hand those problems “down from generation to generation.”
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island during a war against Mao Zedong’s Communists in 1949.
China has stated that “separatist forces” in Taiwan are the main threat to peace, Taiwan’s defense ministry said. The PLA is already able to seal off Taiwan’s main island and occupy outlying islands, according to the report.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1972, the U.S. is obligated to maintain peace and security across the Taiwan Strait. U.S. military budget cuts may hurt the standing of the U.S. in Asia over the next 10 to 15 years, the report said.
The U.S. believes that a Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile is designed to target U.S. aircraft carriers. In April, the U.S. said China had deployed the missile along its southern coast.
To contact the reporter on this story: Debra Mao in Taipei at dmao5@bloomberg.net
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