Radio Free Asia
Date: 2018-08-17
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (C) arrives for a ceremony to commission new US-made Apache AH-64E attack helicopters at an military base in Taoyuan, July 17, 2018. AFP
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is gradually preparing for a possible invasion of the neighboring democratic island of Taiwan, according to a military analysis published by the Pentagon in Washington.
Armed forces under the ruling Chinese Communist Party “continued to develop and deploy increasingly advanced military capabilities intended to coerce Taiwan, signal Chinese resolve, and gradually improve capabilities for an invasion,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in an annual report on China’s military capabilities.
“These improvements pose major challenges to Taiwan’s security.”
The report said Taiwan’s military security has largely depended on the PLA’s inability to project power decisively across the 100 nautical-mile Taiwan Strait, as well as on the technological superiority of Taiwan’s armed forces, and the possibility that the U.S. may intervene in any conflict.
But it said that the Communist Party, which has never ruled Taiwan, has become increasingly intolerant of what it calls “foreign interference in Taiwan’s affairs.”
It cited a warning last year by Chinese embassy official Li Kexin, who said any visit to Taiwan by the U.S. Navy would prompt China to take Taiwan by force. [FULL STORY]
