Maritime experts from the US, Japan and Germany voiced worries at a panel hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington last week that China is escalating its military pressure against Taiwan.
Sarah Kirchberger, a panelist from the Institute for Security Policy at Germany’s Kiel University, reportedly noted in response to a question that a senior Chinese naval officer had written, “We should do what Putin did in Crimea to Taiwan.”
The security concerns at the Friday conference follow a stern warning from Chinese President Xi Jinping last month that Taiwan will face the “punishment of history” if it makes any move toward separatism. A retired People’s Liberation Army general also said recently that Taiwan could be taken in three days if Beijing moved militarily against what it considers a renegade province.
Kirchberger and two other panelists – Tetsuo Kotani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and John Watts, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security – all agreed that China looks at Taiwan as Russia regarded Crimea, a key territory and a jumping-off point from which to assert its power in the Asia-Pacific region.
The panelists said that if China were to take over Taiwan, it would have direct access to the Western Pacific and would also be able to extend its influence in the East and South China Seas.
They further noted that China was stepping up its submarine presence in the East China Sea and use of aerial drones for intelligence collection purposes. Beijing is also said to be engaging in almost daily probes of Japan’s air defense networks.
Simulated cruise missile attacks on Japan
The flights reportedly include simulated cruise missile attacks on the Japanese mainland. The probing missions by Chinese planes are also said to be increasing the strain on Japanese fighters. This is raising a possibility that US Air Force planes from Okinawa will be called in to help with the intercepts.
Kirchberger didn’t identify the Chinese naval official who advocated a Crimea-like action against Taiwan. But Zhang Wenmu, a noted Chinese naval strategist, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s action against Ukraine in an essay published in late 2014. Zhang also asserted that China should follow Putin’s lead in adopting a similar muscular policy stance against the US.
President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, John Bolton, is a strong opponent of the United States’ “One China” policy. A “very high-ranking” US State Department official is expected to visit Taiwan in June to officiate at the opening of the new compound of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei’s Neihu district, according to Liberty Times and the Taipei Times, which cited a Taiwanese government official.
Before the world ends time for usa will happen and I know the world will die happy.#usa is not strong as u think but the game is just still on its side
Lee Why …..1.4 B china pop, out of it are the 80M minority commies,CCP, so very powerful that they control the military and most businesses ,as a result ,they are all millionaires if not Billionaires. They do not want to yield power to the 1.32 B majority. Election in Mainland china were performed only by d 80M minority ccp to decide what and who is the next leader.
here in the philippines, we need to hope for a U S intervention in order to keep china at bay…elsewise….better learn to speak chinese…watch red dawn…possible scenario..it would be over in minutes….marshal la, chinese soldiers on every corner and no more fredom…sad
Matthew James Fullen if a population of people want independence but are too afraid of their colonizers or their fellow countrymen to fight for it, then they don’t really want it. The latest polling showed that about 65% of the Taiwanese population knows that their military wouldn’t stand a chance against the PLA, and that is an informed opinion as Taiwan has mandatory military service. Additionally, Taiwan is presently suffering from "brain-drain" as hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese citizens move to the Chinese mainland for more opportunities and a better life. There is already a population of over a million Taiwanese living in mainland China. So, to sum up, they know their military sucks, and for that reason they don’t want to declare independence, and they are moving to the Chinese mainland in droves. You don’t need to have lived in Taiwan to get your facts straight. Maybe you should do some research instead of avoiding my arguments.