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China still a threat: Yang
WASHINGTON FOCUS: Andrew Yang spoke at a forum after the
release of a report urging the US to work on Beijing to reduce its missile
threat to Taiwan
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
Thursday, May 27, 2010, Page 1
Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (·¨©À¯ª) told a Washington
symposium on Tuesday that although President Ma Ying-jeou¡¦s (°¨^¤E) administration
was doing everything in its power to maintain peace, it still considered China a
¡§major threat.¡¨
¡§We are fully aware that we are facing a clear and present threat from the other
side of the Taiwan Strait,¡¨ he said.
Yang, on a short private visit to the US, said he had not spoken with US
officials about the possible sale of F-16C/D fighter planes and that he had
received no updated information.
A response to Taiwan¡¦s request to buy 66 of the planes is expected before the
end of this year.
There was little more that Taiwan could do to persuade the US to sell the
fighters, he said, adding: ¡§It is up to the US to make a decision, or not.¡¨
Yang was speaking at a symposium organized by the Washington-based ¡§Project 2049
Institute¡¨ to release a new report titled Evolving Aerospace Trends in the
Asia-Pacific Region ¡X Implications for Stability in the Taiwan Strait.
He said that Chinese missiles arrayed against Taiwan sent a ¡§very negative
message¡¨ because they represented an intention to use non-peaceful means to
reach Beijing¡¦s goals.
A Chinese assault, he said, could begin with a ¡§massive missile attack¡¨
attempting to neutralize Taiwan¡¦s defense infrastructure and major political
centers.
The country, he said, had to ¡§try its best¡¨ to survive such an attack and
demonstrate that it could ¡§stand up against the aggressors.¡¨
He said that he hoped Beijing would realize that the use of force would not
succeed and that even if it did, it would result in a regional disaster.
Asked about the crisis caused by the sinking of a South Korean warship by a
North Korean submarine, Yang said the incident showed friction could have a
great impact on regional security and stability. He said he hoped Beijing would
also learn from what had happened and avoid miscalculation.
The report said that the potential for a Chinese military attack on Taiwan
remained the ¡§primary flash point¡¨ in the Asia-Pacific region.
¡§It is also the contingency that most likely would bring the US and China, as
well as others in the region, into armed conflict,¡¨ the report said.
Written by Mark Stokes, a US expert on Taiwan¡¦s military affairs and executive
director of the ¡§Project 2049 Institute,¡¨ the report said a ¡§relative erosion¡¨
of Taiwan¡¦s military capabilities could create opportunities and incentives for
Beijing¡¦s political and military leadership to take greater risks in
cross-strait relations, ¡§including resorting to force to resolve political
differences.¡¨
In order to deter perceived moves toward de jure independence, China sought the
capacity to dominate the skies over Taiwan, the report said.
The Taiwan independence ¡§threat¡¨ also conveniently justified the People¡¦s
Liberation Army¡¦s (PLA) budget increases at a time when money was tight, the
report added.
¡§It also allows for an accelerated pace of modernization without excessive alarm
from others in the region. The focus on Taiwan is useful in developing
capabilities applicable to other contingencies around China¡¦s periphery,¡¨ the
report said.
It recommended the US adopt a mixture of positive and negative incentives to
persuade civilian leaders in Beijing to increase their commitment to peaceful
means to resolve political differences with Taipei and to reduce the missile
deployment opposite Taiwan.
Because anti-missile systems and other defenses were insufficient to undercut
¡§the coercive and military utility¡¨ of China¡¦s ballistic missiles and land
attack cruise missiles (LACM), the report said that Taiwan¡¦s reported program to
field the Hsiungfeng-2E indigenous LACM was ¡§not without reason.¡¨
In 2005, media reports alleged that at least 24 launchers had been manufactured,
along with an unknown number of missiles that could cover more than 20 targets
in southeast China. More recently, media reports highlighted further testing of
the HF-2E, with plans to produce at least 80 HF-2E LACMs with a range of more
than 500km by the end of this year.
¡§A second track could be to begin assessing options for a multi-role fighter
able to operate from shorter runways. A variety of options are worth
considering, including the eventual release of the F-35B, the transfer of an
existing Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing (VSTOL) design, such as the
AV-8B, or the initiation of design work on a VSTOL-capable advanced indigenous
defense fighter,¡¨ the report said.
Many US experts believe Taiwan should buy or develop a VSTOL fighter because
China will try to destroy runways early in a conflict.
A third track, the report said, would be the ¡§principled release¡¨ of additional
F-16s to Taiwan as an interim bridge to the fielding of a VSTOL airframe.
¡§Release of additional F-16s would be an appropriate and measured response to
the PRC¡¦s growing reliance on ballistic missiles as an instrument of coercion,¡¨
the report said. ¡§Should Beijing demonstrate clear intent to redeploy or draw
down its five confirmed short range ballistic missile (SRBM) brigades opposite
Taiwan, then formal notification to Congress could be deferred. Such an approach
constitutes a form of reciprocal unilateralism. However, explicit negotiations
linking PRC ballistic missile deployments with US arms sales to Taiwan would be
neither appropriate nor desirable.¡¨
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