Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Temstar said:

Medium line is not Taiwan "airspace", for one.

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It was, until fairly recently, a line that both sides respected in order to avoid unnecessary escalation. What China is doing now is something it didn't even do from 2000 to 2008, when Chen Shui-bian was President. So it is an escalation.

That said I would agree that yes, PLA is conducting aggressive operations against Taiwan. After all from their perspective they are conducting aggressive probing against armed separatism

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I'm not sure how Taiwan simply maintaining the current situation is "aggressive". Plus we know that the PLA has been expanding its capabilities over the decades and therefore changing the military status quo more in its favour. Whereas Taiwan has been fairly restrained and not adopted a military first strategy of the sort North Korea has. Taiwan defence policy is not a threat to China if China leaves it alone.

It's like the neighbourhood bully complaining that one of his classmates has taken a few self-defence classes when he's been injecting himself with steroids.

Mr T said:

It was, until fairly recently, a line that both sides respected in order to avoid unnecessary escalation. What China is doing now is something it didn't even do from 2000 to 2008, when Chen Shui-bian was President. So it is an escalation.



I'm not sure how Taiwan simply maintaining the current situation is "aggressive". Plus we know that the PLA has been expanding its capabilities over the decades and therefore changing the military status quo more in its favour. Whereas Taiwan has been fairly restrained and not adopted a military first strategy of the sort North Korea has. Taiwan defence policy is not a threat to China if China leaves it alone.

It's like the neighbourhood bully complaining that one of his classmates has taken a few self-defence classes when he's been injecting himself with steroids.

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Stop rewriting history. The ROC never respected the median line back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, when their air force is stronger. There is no written or unspoken rule on median line.

And why would any legitimate government leave a rebel alone? It should constantly harass it to weaken them.

The analogy regarding the bully is correct, the ROC is the bully. And the PRC doesn't take steroids, just works out.

Mr T said:

It was, until fairly recently, a line that both sides respected in order to avoid unnecessary escalation. What China is doing now is something it didn't even do from 2000 to 2008, when Chen Shui-bian was President. So it is an escalation.

I'm not sure how Taiwan simply maintaining the current situation is "aggressive". Plus we know that the PLA has been expanding its capabilities over the decades and therefore changing the military status quo more in its favour. Whereas Taiwan has been fairly restrained and not adopted a military first strategy of the sort North Korea has. Taiwan defence policy is not a threat to China if China leaves it alone.

It's like the neighbourhood bully complaining that one of his classmates has taken a few self-defence classes when he's been injecting himself with steroids.

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I would say Taiwan has been very aggressive towards China of late, particularly 2020, just not militarily (and they would be militarily too, if they could).

The comparison to Wang Jingwei regime is very deliberate. Wang Jingwei's flavour of ROC was in bed with a foreign imperial power in their attempt to divide China and none to happy to sell out fellow Chinese if an opportunity presents itself. All of which applies to the current incarnation of ROC in Taiwan just as well, what with that PAVE PAWS radar and their intelligence coordination with the US. They even fly the same flag and call themselves the same country as Wang Jingwei, but Wang Jingwei at least had the decency to still insist his government represents China and he even managed to run it half decently.

Mr T said:

It was, until fairly recently, a line that both sides respected in order to avoid unnecessary escalation. What China is doing now is something it didn't even do from 2000 to 2008, when Chen Shui-bian was President. So it is an escalation.

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What's the relevance of 2000 to 2008? The Chinese always look to the future while those who are against the Chinese pine for the past. This has nothing to do with who was ruling the ROC; it's just that China is growing and the power dynamic has changed.

Mr T said:

I'm not sure how Taiwan simply maintaining the current situation is "aggressive". Plus we know that the PLA has been expanding its capabilities over the decades and therefore changing the military status quo more in its favour. Whereas Taiwan has been fairly restrained and not adopted a military first strategy of the sort North Korea has.

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That's just China growing naturally. Being too poor to develop a powerful military is not called restrained.

Mr T said:

Taiwan defence policy is not a threat to China if China leaves it alone.

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You can't steal other people's things and ask them to leave you alone when they come to retrieve them.

Mr T said:

It's like the neighbourhood bully complaining that one of his classmates has taken a few self-defence classes when he's been injecting himself with steroids.

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Not everybody bigger than you is on steroids. Stop whining that other people can grow much much bigger and they will want their things back when they can take them back.

escobar said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1337011048805789696

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Man, This is just a huge piece of steaming garbage reporting.

"Crushed resistance to its rule in Hong Kong"? Such a hyperbolic statement does not belong in what should be a news service. It's quite obvious that they are trying to invoke Tiananmen. Yet, more black people were killed by police in 2019 in the US (a lot) than protesters in HK (zero).

America points guns at everyone and say they are "protecting peace". Sail 2 supercarriers into waters an ocean away from your own territory, carrying a quantity of aircraft larger than 90% of the world's airforces, and call it "peaceful".

I won't pretend that the PLA is not trying to pressure the ROC armed forces. That much is clear. However, the constant characterization of "Chinese military buildup" as some kind of underhanded or evil project is just BS racism/white supremacy. It basically feeds the narrative that Asians need to be castrated/subservient to white masters to be trusted.

Largest air force in the world, USAF, 2nd largest air force in the world, USN. Who has attacked Chinese territory in recent memory? USA (Belgrade embassy bombing). Let's not forget the P-3 incident which was an American plane doing the same kind of overflights that this BS article is complaining about.

When it was mostly J-7 and T-55, the news harps on about "2 million man army". When the modernization (and force reduction) is happening it is still "military buildup".

Garbage racist "yellow peril" invective.

Temstar said:

I would say Taiwan has been very aggressive towards China of late, particularly 2020, just not militarily (and they would be militarily too, if they could).

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What, by holding free and fair elections, or saying it would defend itself if China attacked?

The comparison to Wang Jingwei regime is very deliberate... They even fly the same flag and call themselves the same country as Wang Jingwei

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Wang has nothing to do with the modern state of Taiwan. He was a former member of the ROC/KMT, but he was never the leader of either (being a member of a break away group during a time of war doesn't count).

More importantly, and I hate to break it to you, but the fact Taiwan still uses the ROC's flag and title is the PRC's fault. Taiwan would happily change its official name and adopt a new flag, but the CCP said doing that would trigger an invasion.

what with that PAVE PAWS radar

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If Beijing feels threatened by PAVE PAWS, the best thing it could do is commit to negotiating a peaceful settlement with Taiwan, drop its conditions for direct talks and start dismantling the short/intermediate-range missile stockpile it built up. Then, over time, Taiwan might be convinced to dismantle the facility or at least temporarily shut it down until negotiations were over.

Mr T said:

If Beijing feels threatened by PAVE PAWS, the best thing it could do is commit to negotiating a peaceful settlement with Taiwan, drop its conditions for direct talks and start dismantling the short/intermediate-range missile stockpile it built up. Then, over time, Taiwan might be convinced to dismantle the facility or at least temporarily shut it down until negotiations were over.

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It is much more insulting than threatening to have any force at all on your own land against you. The best thing for the ROC to do is to peacefully return the Chinese property it's on and negotiate their permanent residence on it as at part of the PRC. We all know that the Chinese military isn't shutting anything down or getting any weaker, either as an absolute or in relation to any hostile force; the Chinese military is only accelerating into its natural place as the guardian of the most populace nation with the largest (ppp) and fastest-growing economy and technology sector in the world. So let's not talk about silly Chinese disarmament fantasies and turn this into a Western wet dream, eh? Reunification is the only bloodless path forward for the ROC.

Mr T said:

What, by holding free and fair elections, or saying it would defend itself if China attacked?



More importantly, and I hate to break it to you, but the fact Taiwan still uses the ROC's flag and title is the PRC's fault. Taiwan would happily change its official name and adopt a new flag, but the CCP said doing that would trigger an invasion.

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Elections among thieves doesn't make them legitimate, they are still thieves.

PRC will not invade if ROC just go with the times and return to PRC and take the 5 stars flag of PRC. Not all new flags and official names are made equal.

PiSigma said:

Elections among thieves doesn't make them legitimate, they are still thieves.

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How can people "steal" themselves? No one's forced to live on Taiwan, every citizen is free to move to mainland China if they wish. The fact that they don't want to leave suggests that they're quite happy with things the way they are. China doesn't own Taiwanese people like they're slaves who ran away.

Anyway, I didn't mention legitimacy, I asked whether holding free and fair elections was a threat to China, because I'm struggling to see what aggressive action Taiwan has taken towards China this year.

PRC will not invade if ROC just go with the times and return to PRC and take the 5 stars flag of PRC.

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Bit difficult for Taiwan to join the PRC if Beijing won't agree to negotiations or provide a detailed explanation of what Taiwan's position in the PRC would be. Xi saying "HK+" is a meaningless statement given that he has started a process to terminate the end the One Country Two Systems relationship and made it clear that Beijing can change any agreement at any time, for any reason.

As things stand, Taiwanese would be giving up their independence just to avoid being casualties of an invasion, because even if Beijing agreed to give them "autonomy" that promise would be worthless, as it could be revoked without notice or consultation.

Mr T said:

How can people "steal" themselves? No one's forced to live on Taiwan, every citizen is free to move to mainland China if they wish. The fact that they don't want to leave suggests that they're quite happy with things the way they are. China doesn't own Taiwanese people like they're slaves who ran away.

Anyway, I didn't mention legitimacy, I asked whether holding free and fair elections was a threat to China, because I'm struggling to see what aggressive action Taiwan has taken towards China this year.

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You have it backwards. China owns the land. The people are free to leave if they wish. They stole the land because the KMT couldn't just admit clear defeat; instead they squat on Chinese land pretending to be the victims saying that China should just let them have it.

Mr T said:

Bit difficult for Taiwan to join the PRC if Beijing won't agree to negotiations or provide a detailed explanation of what Taiwan's position in the PRC would be. Xi saying "HK+" is a meaningless statement given that he has started a process to terminate the end the One Country Two Systems relationship and made it clear that Beijing can change any agreement at any time, for any reason.

As things stand, Taiwanese would be giving up their independence just to avoid being casualties of an invasion, because even if Beijing agreed to give them "autonomy" that promise would be worthless, as it could be revoked without notice or consultation.

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They'd be giving up what? What does independence even mean? Every person is part of a state; they would transition from being a part of a small inconsequential one into being part of the premier rising power of the world. It's quite frankly an unfairly good deal for them as they did nothing to contribute to China's rise but they could enjoy all of it. Autonomy or independence (and freedom) are worthless weasel terms that the US wants the people of the ROC to unthinkingly cling to in order to bind themselves to serving American interests rather than exploring what they have the potential to become a part of.