Taiwan Is Also On Mainland China’s List
Map of Pag-asa Island – China claims it as property
Taiwan is not lagging behind Palau in bumping up its military aircraft.
The Island of Taiwan has been targeted by the Chinese government in Beijing as a possession of China, and is not recognized by China as an independent nation in itself and China wants what it wants, period.
The Taiwanese, of course, do not see things quite that way, and have not done so since Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Tse-Tung got into a quarrel over who would rule the roost in mainland China.
The island is constantly under threat from the Chinese military’s fighter jets and bombers when they go on their “practice runs” aimed at sinking Taiwanese ships and aircraft. Therefore, they have their own air and sea-going forces, bolstered and supported by US military when needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wr9s8q2F6w
Looks like it’s time to resurrect Project Thor and the Rods from God.
The Free Chinese need at least one fighter group of F-35s, and a squadron of destroyers with AEGIS. We sold all four of our KIDD-class DDGs to the Free Chinese, but I don’t think the KIDDs are retrofittable with AEGIS. Time to up the ante and equip the Free Chinese with AEGIS DDGs.
Agree CH. Folks can say what they want about China wanting stability and don’t have any desire for World Domination. I personally don’t agree with that theory and think that China has all kinds of lustful thoughts on taking over Taiwan. We should give the free Chinese all that you mentioned and then some. There will be a fight over that little island, eventually if not sooner.
Several of the Companies that we repped for back yonder, manufactured a lot of quality product in Taiwan. Met a goodly number of the people from there. Very industrious and appreciative of what the USA had done for them. Met others thru the local college that Madame CKS attended. There were even a few Vets of the Flying Tigers/Nationalist Air Forces in that mix. A good example of what a free society can do is the example of the 2 Koreas and the 2 Chinas. The ROKs and the Taiwanese have a high standard of living, make quality products and fit in with the peaceful nations of the world. ChiComs and Norks build junk and in many cases, eating their pets to keep from starving.
The PRC has always claimed the ROC (aka Taiwan), although they have been somewhat ambiguous.
The fact is that we had our eyes on other issues while the Chinese improved their position and built their naval and A2AD capabilities. We are now at the point that if China decided to take Taiwan we would be faced with a fait accompli almost over night, and would have a very tough choice of total war or accepting the new reality.
The PLAN has the capability to sink one of our major combatants from over the horizon (i.e. a carrier), so it would be very costly in terms of blood and treasure to even get to the fight, at which point we would be facing the difficult task of landing a credible force against opposition, literally in China’s back yard.
We can argue about which presidents have been the toughest, but the fact is that none of them has really done anything, to include Trump. He talks tough and we are in a trade war, but we still don’t have the amount of force in the right place to do much but watch as it happens.
That said, there is every indication that the Chinese would prefer to do it with soft or sticky power- giving payday loans to everyone in the South China Sea and expanding their influence slowly but irreversibly.
‘Bout what I figured SteeleyI. The Taiwanese that talked with nearly 30 years ago now, pretty much knew that when PRC came in, they would eventually win, albeit, at a very high price. And would there be anything worth having when the Island was finally overrun? Maybe that is why PLAN is just bidding their time, and as you say, making pay day loans hither and yon all thru the area and just tell the world, including us to just deal with the new reality.
Just looking at a map of the area shows how easy it would be to set up the choke points, and as you say, making it very costly just to get to the fight. The Japanese pulled if off with way yonder less resources than the Chinese have. The Japanese just got too greedy, for too much, too soon. Awakening that Sleeping Giant didn’t help them either. If we are going to be a player in that section of the World, we gonna need a lot of help from the people surrounding China. Just my 2 pennies worth.
The Chinese are in it for the long haul. We change with the new elections every 2-4-6-8 years. They probably grinned and rejoiced when we started getting into the tarbaby of A’stan. Time to GTFO of there and let them have a go at it.
“It follows that it was not a very wonderful action, or contrary to the common practice of mankind, if we did accept an empire that was offered to us, and refused to give it up under the pressure of three of the strongest motives, fear, honor, and interest.”- Thucydides. The Japanese were actually making a gamble similar to what the Chinese are doing now. Very rapid strikes would consolidate their control, put the Brits effectively out of the war, and the US fleet at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. At that point the US would face the reality that taking it all back would be incredibly costly (which it was), and the Japanese assumed the US would simply accept it and be forced to negotiate from a position of weakness. There were of course two miscalculations: On a tactical level they failed to take out the US carriers, partly because the Japanese Naval staff underestimated their effectiveness. Japanese carrier aviation was by far the best in the world, and they had an almost contempt for the US Naval air forces. Strategically, they miscalculated the level of US interest in the Pacific, the fear of what this meant for the US in the future, and the damage they did to our national honor. When they allied with Germany and Italy, they linked the European war to the Pacific, and the US was faced with the very real possibility that not only the ‘World Island’ of Europe to the East would be controlled by an enemy, but that the markets to the West would also be controlled by an enemy. Fear, honor, and interest. Most people study wars either by looking at the specifics of a particular battle or by looking at the wave tops of campaigns and the overall conduct of the war. If you look at WWII in the context of all elements of national power (Diplomatic, Information, Military, and Economy) those seemingly crazy decisions make a lot more sense. Think of this: Within 6 months of the debacle and devastating losses of Pearl Harbor, the US Navy lost 2… Read more »
Good question. IMO the capital ship vs the CCP will be the Submarine. While the ability to sink a carrier over the horizon is questionable, carriers would be at considerable risk approaching the Asian littoral, missiles or no. OTOH, we still have superiority in SSNs and could make life hell for the CCP’s naval assets, as well as their inferior subs. At this point, I don’t doubt that we could end their sub force inside 6 months if they dare pout them to sea. We could also end most of the surface fleet inside the same period.
That’s assuming the sub force hasn’t gone completely SJW by the time we are faced with the need to do it.