Former PLA official says China can’t invade Taiwan

Official claims CCP's internal struggles hinder China's ability to take Taiwan by force

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/29
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Lieutenant Colonel Yao Cheng (姚誠) of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Naval Command said on Thursday (May 28) that high-level power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mean Beijing does not have the military strength to invade Taiwan.

Given that China’s annual two sessions have commenced, high-level power struggles have become more intense. This has led to the end of many officials, including Hu Wenming (胡問鳴), former chairman of the CCP’s China Shipbuilding Industry, Newtalk reported.

According to a Voice of America report, Yao stressed that senior PLA officers are no longer “falling in line.”

Yao Cheng noted that after a new CCP leader comes to power, they cleanse the PLA of the former administration’s proxies. For example, Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) eliminated Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) influence from the military once he became head of state.
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