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Taiwan air defense needs a boost: US
commission
THREAT:The commission stopped short of calling for sales of
F-16C/D planes to Taiwan, but said action was needed in the face of an ¡¥eroding
cross-strait air balance¡¦
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in
WASHINGTON
As the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission officially released its
annual report to the US Congress on Wednesday, commissioner Dan Blumenthal said
there was unanimous agreement that ¡§something must be done¡¨ to improve Taiwan¡¦s
air defense capabilities.
Addressing a packed hearing room in the US Senate, Blumenthal said there was ¡§no
silver bullet¡¨ that could balance the military forces facing each other across
the Taiwan Strait, but that Congress needed to review the situation in a
comprehensive manner.
Blumenthal, a China analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, said it was
not up to the commission to recommend the sale of specific arms packages to
Taipei, such as the 66 advanced F-16C/D fighter aircraft that Taiwan wants to
buy.
Other sources said a number of the 12 bipartisan commissioners wanted US
President Barack Obama to sell the aircraft to Taiwan, but that to get a
unanimous report it decided not to include that specific recommendation in the
document.
Blumenthal said all the commissioners agreed that, given the ¡§sober facts on the
eroding cross-strait air balance,¡¨ Congress had to take some action.
He hoped the report would result in the Pentagon working more closely with
Taiwan on ¡§a host¡¨ of issues that would lead to more stability in the Taiwan
Strait.
Details of the report¡¦s recommendations concerning Taiwan were published
yesterday in the Taipei Times.
Created 10 years ago to advise Congress on policy toward China, the commission¡¦s
report this year was largely negative toward Beijing.
Commission vice chairwoman Carolyn Bartholomew warned that in addition to
improving its air force, China had boosted its offensive air and missile
capabilities and strengthened its capacity to threaten US forces and bases in
the region.
¡§Currently, China¡¦s conventional missile capabilities alone may be sufficient to
temporarily knock out five of the six US air bases in East Asia,¡¨ she said.
¡§Saturation missile strikes could destroy US air defenses, runways, parked
aircraft, and fuel and maintenance facilities. Complicating this scenario is the
future deployment of China¡¦s anti-ship ballistic missile, which could hold US
aircraft carriers at bay outside their normal operating range,¡¨ Bartholomew
said.
The 316-page report paints a dark picture of what could happen if China attacked
Taiwan in the current circumstances.
According to one expert who testified before the commission, China could
potentially deliver ¡§a staggering blow¡¨ to the Taiwanese air force in the first
minutes and hours of any cross-strait conflict.
Using just a quarter of its short-range ballistic missile force, China could
¡§cut every runway at Taiwan¡¦s ten main fighter operating bases and damage or
destroy virtually every unsheltered aircraft located on them.¡¨
¡§The PLA [People¡¦s Liberation Army] Air Force would likely target any aircraft
that survived the initial onslaught,¡¨ the report says.
¡§At this stage, without outside military support for Taiwan, the PLA would
possess air superiority over the island and be able to conduct attacks on a wide
range of military and economic targets with minimal losses,¡¨ it says.
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