Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/05
By: Chiang Chin-yeh and Elizabeth Hsu

CNA file photo

Washington, Oct. 4 (CNA) China’s military is posing a growing threat to Taiwan because of improved capabilities to execute a military action against the island, the Heritage Foundation has said in an annual report analyzing the United States’ military strength.

The 2019 Index of U.S. Military Strength, published by the Washington-based conservative think tank Thursday, warned of China’s growing military might in its chapter highlighting threats to the U.S.’s vital interests.

It describes China’s longstanding threat to end Taiwan’s de facto independence and ultimately to bring it under Beijing’s authority — if necessary, by force — as both a threat to a major American security partner and a threat to the American interest in peace and stability in the Western Pacific.

The 494-page report described Taiwan as an “essential part of the People’s Liberation Army’s ‘new historic missions,’ shaping PLA acquisitions and military planning.”
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