Experts: U.S. Must ‘Use All Military and Diplomatic Means’ to Defend Taiwan from China

(Photo Credit: Republic of China)

 

They called on President Trump to prepare for war with China over the island enclave with a strong military presence in the Western Pacific.

Sounding the alarm over China’s intentions with regard to Taiwan, a group of U.S. experts is calling on President Donald Trump to be prepared for a potential war over the island enclave by preparing a strong military presence in the region.

President Xi Orders Chinese Army To “Prepare For War”

 

In just a few short days, China has proved that investors who have been underestimating the geopolitical risks stemming from the simmering tensions between the US and China over the latter’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and paranoia over the fate of Taiwan – a de facto independent state that President Xi Jinping is aggressively seeking to bring under the heel of Beijing – have done so at their own peril.

Earlier this week Xi Jinping, the Chinese emperor for life president provoked an angry rebuke from Taiwan’s pro-independence president when he demanded during a landmark speech earlier this week that Taiwan submit to “reunification” with Beijing.

And as if tensions between China and the international community weren’t already high enough amid a worsening economic slowdown that’s hurting global economic growth and a tenuous trade “truce” with the US,  in another speech delivered on Friday during a meeting of top officials from China’s Central Military Commission which he leads, Xi took his belligerent rhetoric one step further by issuing his first military command of 2019: that “all military units must correctly understand major national security and development trends, and strengthen their sense of unexpected hardship, crisis and battle.”

Senior Chinese military official urges PLAN to attack US naval vessels in S. China Sea

This article brings us full circle to a quote, also found on our quotes page, from a Chinese official regarding war against America. The phony war over Taiwan is not about Taiwan, but war on America. Taiwan is a pawn.

“The central committee believes, as long as we resolve the United States problem at one blow, our domestic problems will all be readily solved. Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.”

– Chi Haotian, Minster of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission

 

PLAAF Colonel Commandant Dai Xu (Image from Chinese media)

 

The Chinese tabloid Global Times hosted a conference in Beijing, Saturday, Dec. 8 which featured bellicose statements concerning Taiwan and the US

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – At a conference held in Beijing on Saturday, Chinese government and military officials discussed issues in the South China Sea and the current state of relations between the U.S. and China.

U.S. Navy checks China, establishes new norm for Taiwan Strait

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale. / U.S. Navy photo

 

There is no more volatile and sensitive an issue for Beijing than the U.S. military presence in the Taiwan Strait which China considers its own dominance area.

Yet the U.S. Navy for the first time since 1969 has re-established its routine presence in the 100-mile wide strategic choke-point, much to China’s frustration.

Taiwan navy gets two new warships as China tensions grow

 

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vowed Thursday that the island would not “concede one step” in defending itself as she inaugurated two frigates bought from the United States aimed at boosting Taipei’s naval capabilities against China.

Rival China has upped military drills including a live fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait in April, declaring its willingness to confront the island’s “independence forces”.

Taiwan Seeks Bigger Military to Protect Itself From China

 

The Taiwanese are bracing for the possibility that China will use military force to attempt to assert control over their island.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen promised on October 10 to boost Taiwan’s national security in order to counter an increasingly aggressive China. Taiwan will not allow Communist China’s efforts to seize control of the island, Tsai said.

US Pacific Fleet Prepares For Global Show Of Force To Warn China: Media

 

The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet has drawn up a classified proposal to carry out a global show of force as a warning to China and to demonstrate the US is prepared to deter and counter their military actions, according to several anonymous US defense officials cited by CNN.

The presumed draft proposal from the Navy recommends the US Pacific Fleet to conduct a series of operations during a single week in November.

China Pushes at Taiwan With ‘Large-Scale’ Military Exercises

 

A six-day live-fire drill gets Xi Jinping’s point across.

China began a six-day military drill in the East China Sea on July 19 as a threat toward the island nation of Taiwan.

Located near Taiwan, these “live-fire” drills are complex and will simulate real combat, according to the Global Times. China’s People’s Liberation Army (pla) will practice their “systematic combat capability, tactics, training methods and capacities of its weaponry and equipment.”

Taiwan Doubles Down On U.S. LNG

LNG Vessel. Source: OilPrice

 

Taiwan, which has seen increased military exercises off its coast by Chinese forces this year, has just inked a major energy deal with a U.S. energy firm.

On Monday, Taiwan’s CPC Corp., a major LNG importer, announced a preliminary deal to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from U.S. based LNG producer Cheniere Energy for a period of 25 years. CPC signed a Heads of Agreement to purchase 2 million tonnes of LNG annually from the major gas exporter, which is gearing up to start exports from its second export plant at Corpus Christi, Texas.

China ‘Dream’ Is Global Hegemony

China’s President Xi Jinping / Getty Images

 

U.S. urged to counter Beijing’s military, economic expansion

China’s large-scale military buildup, regional coercion, and economic aggression are part of plan for global domination, experts told Congress on Thursday.

The nuclear and conventional weapons buildup, militarization of islets in the South China Sea and global infrastructure investments aimed at controlling nations are signs Beijing has emerged as America’s most significant national security challenge, a panel of specialists told a hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Taiwan “Won’t Bow Down To China Pressure”; Plans To Purchase 108 US Abrams Tanks

 

Taiwan “will not bow down to pressure from Beijing” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says, but “will work with friendly nations to uphold regional peace and stability and ensure our rightful place in the international community.”

His exclamation came after news that the Dominican Republic had broken ties with Taipei and established formal relations with Beijing, expressing “deep regret” that the Dominican Republic had “set aside 77 years of partnership” in order “to accept deceptive promises of investment and aid from China.”

Taiwan’s presidential office also issued a statement criticizing the Chinese government for “exacerbating tension in the Taiwan Strait” just as international society was working to promote reconciliation and dialogue, “including in the Korean Peninsula.”

Largest Chinese Naval Drill “In 600 Years” Begins: Live-Fire Exercise In Taiwan Strait

Lets not forget this quote, which can also be found on the quotes page:

“The central committee believes, as long as we resolve the United States problem at one blow, our domestic problems will all be readily solved. Therefore, our military battle preparation appears to aim at Taiwan, but in fact is aimed at the United States, and the preparation is far beyond the scope of attacking aircraft carriers or satellites.”

– Chi Haotian, Minster of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission

 

 

Last week, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) assembled all of its most advanced warships, aircraft, and nuclear submarines for a massive show of force in the South China Sea. We explained, how the 3-day war drill from April 10 through 13 would be held in the waters south of China’s Hainan Island.

Asia Times estimates some 10,000 People’s Liberation Army airmen, marines and sailors boarded 48 naval warships and 76 aircraft to show their loyalty and devotion to President Xi Jinping, who was greeted on a destroyer “by a resounding chorus of platitudes from soldiers.”

China Launches Massive Combat Drill In Hainan As War With Taiwan “Becomes More Probable”

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised a more transparent China on Tuesday, during a keynote speech at an economic forum in Boao, on the southern island of Hainan. Immediately after the conference, China’s PLA Navy began a 3-day combat war drill in waters to the south of Sanya, the southern tip of China’s Hainan Island, which is about 112-miles south from the economic forum.

The Hainan Maritime Safety Administration has demarcated an area in the South China Sea that will be closed to all civilian and commercial vessels from April 10 through 13. The military exercise was made public earlier this week on the government’s website.

Taiwan holds live-fire drills as tensions with China mount

 

Taiwanese troops Tuesday staged live-fire exercises simulating a response to an invasion, as China steppeds up pressure on the island’s President Tsai Ing-wen and a row over airline routes escalated.

The military sent reconnaissance aircraft to observe simulated incoming ships, and tanks fired rounds as the “enemy” landed at the eastern port of Hualien.

World War 3: Taiwan ‘ready for war’ with China after quick military response to threats

Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan

 

TAIWAN is “confident” in its defences and responded quickly to Chinese air force “island encirclement” drills, the self-ruled island’s government said.

On Monday, Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan, with state media showing pictures of bombers armed with cruise missiles.

Taiwan presidential spokesman Alex Huang said the defence ministry kept a close watch on the patrols and responded immediately and properly.