Until they address the culture of discrimination against military service, it won’t matter how long they extend compulsory service.
Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
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Until they address the culture of discrimination against military service, it won’t matter how long they extend compulsory service.
Taiwan authorities abandon US anti-sub helicopters sale due to 'high price,' sparking speculation over discord and divergence
By Published: May 06, 2022 06:58 PM
About a week after US cancelled its first arms deal to Taiwan authorities under the Biden administration, the island announced to abandon the plan to buy anti-submarine warfare helicopter from the US as "the price is too high." The seemingly-surprising snub attracted observer speculation that the secessionists Democratic Progressive Party is somehow at odds with Biden administration due to the divergence in interests.
Chinese experts said on Friday that Taiwan's noncompliance could make the US feel the need to put more pressure on it to comply with Washington's plan. And pathetically, Taiwan would have to pay a higher price for the US weapons even if they have realized that the US security promise is simply empty words.
When being asked about the island's purchase of US arms, Chiu Kuo-cheng, the Taiwan authorities' defense leader, said on Thursday that the 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters is too expensive, "beyond the scope of our capability."
It was the third arms deals between the US and Taiwan to be cancelled or postponed since May. , including 40 155mm M109A6 medium self-propelled howitzers, has been halted by the US. The delivery of the mobile Stinger anti-aircraft missiles was also announced delayed because of "demand from Ukraine," Taiwan media outlets reported.
Despite the US explaining the halt as shift of plan to meet "actual operational needs," experts said it's more like a discord, especially regarding that the island's defense authority made clear in April that it will not buy Apache helicopter, retired warships and Black Hawk helicopters from the US.
The US has already sent warning signals to Taiwan authorities that arms sales should be guided by US requirements and that Taiwan needs to be cooperative, Diao Daming, associate professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.
Meanwhile, Diao does not expect the discord in arm sales to result in a substantial policy shift when it comes to US-Taiwan island arms deals, "the Taiwan authorities are buying weapons from the US in order to more closely bind US domestic interests… In the context of China-US strategic competition, the US also needs to play the Taiwan card."
Despite that the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent remarks that the Biden administration was determined to make sure that Taiwan authorities "have all necessary means to defend itself," Diao said the recent discord means the mainland has a chance to take the initiative.
Taiwan had indeed become significantly less willing to pick up the tab for the US. Taiwan media reported during the US congressmen delegation visit to the island in April, US Senator Lindsey Graham publicly asked Taiwan's "China Airline" to purchase 24 Boeing 787s in the talk with the island's regional leader Tsai Ing-wen. However, videos online showed that the translator did not translate Graham's words, but instead said both sides look forward to good results from the cooperation.
It is possible that Taiwan is really not able to afford the US anti-submarine helicopters, but that won't stop US stepping up efforts to sell weapons into Taiwan, Chinese military expert Song Zhongping said.
Song told the Global Times that the US sells Taiwan authorities weapons at a far higher price than it sells to other allies, and none of it is advanced equipment, and that some the of the hardware sold may be viewed as scrap metal in the eyes of the People's Liberation Army.
"As can be seen from the Ukraine crisis, the so-called US military assistance is limited to the arm sales. Secessionists need to figure out what 'America first' means to Taiwan," Song said.
"The US does not sell the weapons that Taiwan wants to buy, and Taiwan does not want to buy the weapons US offered…This asymmetry is just like Taiwan knows that the US commitment is questionable, but has to use the US as a last resort," Song noted.
Lol, Global Times, surprised they didn't offer Z-20J as an alternative.
The US has advocated Taiwan to adopt a more asymmetric strategy against mainland China for quite some time now, but now it looks that they're going to force the strategy down on Taiwan through arms sales/non-sales. More comprehensive reviews of lessons learned from Russia-Ukraine conflict are either on-going and/or will be conducted after the conflict. Expect more sales of Javelin, Stinger, drones, coastal anti-ship missiles, sea mines etc. vs more conventional arms such as tanks, artillery, helicopters.
We've had a lot of discussions on the asymmetric strategy that Taiwan can potentially adopt and its implications in the past in this thread. It will be interesting to continue to keep an eye on the developments in this front.
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By and May 7, 2022
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is quietly pressing the Taiwanese government to order American-made weapons that would help its small military repel a seaborne invasion by China rather than weapons designed for conventional set-piece warfare, current and former U.S. and Taiwanese officials say.
The U.S. campaign to shape Taiwan’s defenses has grown in urgency since the full-scale ordered in late February by President Vladimir V. Putin. The war has convinced Washington and Taipei that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the coming years is now a potential danger — and that a smaller military with the right weapons that has adopted a strategy of asymmetric warfare, in which it focuses on mobility and precision attacks, can beat back a larger foe.
American officials are re-examining the capabilities of the Taiwanese military to determine whether it can fight off an invasion, as Ukrainian forces have been doing.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is trying to orient the country’s military toward asymmetric warfare and has moved to buy a large number of mobile, lethal weapons that are difficult to target and counter.
But some Taiwanese defense officials are resistant. And U.S. officials have decided that certain weapons systems the Taiwanese Defense Ministry has tried to order — the made by Lockheed Martin, for example — are not suited for warfare against the Chinese military.
The U.S. officials have warned their Taiwanese counterparts that the State Department would reject such requests. They have also told American weapons makers to refrain from asking U.S. agencies to approve Taiwanese orders of certain arms. The procurement process is complex, with many parties weighing in.
The push by the Biden administration has broadened and accelerated similar efforts by officials in the Trump and Obama administrations. Democratic and Republican officials and lawmakers say one lesson of the Ukraine war is the United States to deter from China.
The nine current and former American and Taiwanese officials familiar with the discussions spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
“I sense there has been a shift,” said , a East Asia analyst at the . “It started before the invasion of Ukraine, but I think it has really, really solidified since then. There has been this wake-up call in the Pentagon to make sure Taiwan is serious, and we need to get serious too.”
State Department and Pentagon officials have been involved in the discussions with the Taiwanese government. Lawmakers and congressional aides have delivered similar messages. The Biden administration also of five former senior national security officials to Taiwan in early March to talk to Ms. Tsai and other officials about the country’s defense strategy and weapons procurement, among other matters.
“Continuing to pursue systems that will not meaningfully contribute to an effective defense strategy is inconsistent with the evolving security threat that Taiwan faces,” a State Department representative said in a statement. “As such, the United States strongly supports Taiwan’s efforts to implement an asymmetric defense strategy.”
Another State Department official said conversations with Taiwan on weapons took place early in the Biden administration, and both governments are now looking at lessons learned from the Ukraine war.
For decades, Communist-ruled China has vowed to bring Taiwan, a democratic island with de facto independence that is a U.S. partner, under its control. While there is no sign that war is imminent, President Xi Jinping of China has adopted a more aggressive foreign policy than his predecessors, and U.S. officials fear he might invade Taiwan to seal his legacy.
The of 1979 obligates the U.S. government to provide equipment of a defensive nature to Taiwan. Every administration since then has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the question of military intervention — meaning they have not explicitly said whether the U.S. military would defend Taiwan if China attacked.
President Biden has said he would keep U.S. troops out of the fight in Ukraine but has authorized shipments of small, mobile weapons that have helped Ukrainian forces defeat the Russian military in critical battles, including around Kyiv, the capital. The Ukrainian military has used an asymmetric strategy to great effect, mounting a dogged resistance against Russian tanks, fighter jets and battalion groups. Ukraine’s arsenal includes Javelin and Stinger missiles as well as armed drones.
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To be continued ...
We've had a lot of discussions on the asymmetric strategy that Taiwan can potentially adopt and its implications in the past in this thread. It will be interesting to continue to keep an eye on the developments in this front.
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The Biden administration’s push for Taiwan to order missiles and smaller arms for asymmetric warfare has gained urgency since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
By and May 7, 2022
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is quietly pressing the Taiwanese government to order American-made weapons that would help its small military repel a seaborne invasion by China rather than weapons designed for conventional set-piece warfare, current and former U.S. and Taiwanese officials say.
The U.S. campaign to shape Taiwan’s defenses has grown in urgency since the full-scale ordered in late February by President Vladimir V. Putin. The war has convinced Washington and Taipei that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the coming years is now a potential danger — and that a smaller military with the right weapons that has adopted a strategy of asymmetric warfare, in which it focuses on mobility and precision attacks, can beat back a larger foe.
American officials are re-examining the capabilities of the Taiwanese military to determine whether it can fight off an invasion, as Ukrainian forces have been doing.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is trying to orient the country’s military toward asymmetric warfare and has moved to buy a large number of mobile, lethal weapons that are difficult to target and counter.
But some Taiwanese defense officials are resistant. And U.S. officials have decided that certain weapons systems the Taiwanese Defense Ministry has tried to order — the made by Lockheed Martin, for example — are not suited for warfare against the Chinese military.
The U.S. officials have warned their Taiwanese counterparts that the State Department would reject such requests. They have also told American weapons makers to refrain from asking U.S. agencies to approve Taiwanese orders of certain arms. The procurement process is complex, with many parties weighing in.
The push by the Biden administration has broadened and accelerated similar efforts by officials in the Trump and Obama administrations. Democratic and Republican officials and lawmakers say one lesson of the Ukraine war is the United States to deter from China.
The nine current and former American and Taiwanese officials familiar with the discussions spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
“I sense there has been a shift,” said , a East Asia analyst at the . “It started before the invasion of Ukraine, but I think it has really, really solidified since then. There has been this wake-up call in the Pentagon to make sure Taiwan is serious, and we need to get serious too.”
State Department and Pentagon officials have been involved in the discussions with the Taiwanese government. Lawmakers and congressional aides have delivered similar messages. The Biden administration also of five former senior national security officials to Taiwan in early March to talk to Ms. Tsai and other officials about the country’s defense strategy and weapons procurement, among other matters.
“Continuing to pursue systems that will not meaningfully contribute to an effective defense strategy is inconsistent with the evolving security threat that Taiwan faces,” a State Department representative said in a statement. “As such, the United States strongly supports Taiwan’s efforts to implement an asymmetric defense strategy.”
Another State Department official said conversations with Taiwan on weapons took place early in the Biden administration, and both governments are now looking at lessons learned from the Ukraine war.
For decades, Communist-ruled China has vowed to bring Taiwan, a democratic island with de facto independence that is a U.S. partner, under its control. While there is no sign that war is imminent, President Xi Jinping of China has adopted a more aggressive foreign policy than his predecessors, and U.S. officials fear he might invade Taiwan to seal his legacy.
The of 1979 obligates the U.S. government to provide equipment of a defensive nature to Taiwan. Every administration since then has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the question of military intervention — meaning they have not explicitly said whether the U.S. military would defend Taiwan if China attacked.
President Biden has said he would keep U.S. troops out of the fight in Ukraine but has authorized shipments of small, mobile weapons that have helped Ukrainian forces defeat the Russian military in critical battles, including around Kyiv, the capital. The Ukrainian military has used an asymmetric strategy to great effect, mounting a dogged resistance against Russian tanks, fighter jets and battalion groups. Ukraine’s arsenal includes Javelin and Stinger missiles as well as armed drones.
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To be continued ...
Last edited:
... Continued.
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A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would differ from the Russian military’s efforts in Ukraine and be more difficult. Chinese warships would have to cross more than 100 miles of water in the Taiwan Strait and land forces on the island. The Chinese and Taiwanese sides of the strait are bristling with missiles aimed at each other, and the United States and allied nations regularly send warships through the waterway as a show of force.
Resupplying weapons to a besieged Taiwan, an island, could prove more difficult for the United States and its allies than it has been in Ukraine. As a result, some officials are considering stockpiling large amounts of munitions in Taiwan.
In 2019, the State Department authorized a $2.2 billion sale of weapons to Taiwan that included 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks. Some U.S. officials at the time privately criticized the sale, saying that if Chinese forces advance far enough in an invasion that Taiwan has to use tanks, then the island would probably be doomed.
Many of Taiwan’s more recent orders have been in line with an asymmetric strategy. But some Taiwanese officials continue to press American officials on requests for expensive, conventional platforms like the Abrams tanks.
Several defense experts in Taiwan argue that the island will need some traditional systems to prepare for different war scenarios involving China.
“We have accepted many of the recommendations from the United States, but we still need to have some space to make preparations for the possibility of other, longer-term scenarios,” said Chieh Chung, a security analyst with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei. He said he was worried that the Ukraine war had caused Americans to dig in even deeper on the idea of asymmetry, without considering Taiwan’s specific needs.
“Our artillery systems are so old. They need to be upgraded,” he added. “How can you ask us to take World War II-era equipment to defend against China?”
On Thursday, Chiu Kuo-cheng, the defense minister, told Parliament that the ministry had dropped a plan to buy the MH-60R helicopters because they were too expensive. He did not mention that American officials had been pushing Taiwan not to buy the helicopters. American and Taiwanese officials are also debating whether Taiwan should buy E-2D aircraft made by Northrop Grumman.
In recent weeks, Taiwanese officials have expressed their own frustrations with the U.S. government and American weapons makers, complaining of delivery delays and unfilled orders. Ms. Tsai herself has sent messages to Washington, officials said.
Mr. Chiu said two arms orders had been delayed. One is a purchase of M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, made by BAE Systems, that U.S. officials said was being held up because of inadequate production capacity, according to Taiwanese officials. The defense ministry said it was now considering several alternatives offered by the United States, including HIMARS rocket artillery launchers. BAE Systems told this past week that it had the capacity to build the howitzers for Taiwan.
An order of Stinger antiaircraft missiles has also been delayed, Mr. Chiu said.
Ukraine has asked for , and the Biden administration is providing them. Mr. Chiu said Taiwan had already signed a contract for Stingers and paid for them. The State Department official said the Ukraine war has not affected Taiwan’s order.
Stingers are among the kinds of weapons that U.S. officials have encouraged Taiwan to order. The Americans have also pushed Taiwan to buy Harpoon anti-ship missiles made by Boeing. In April, Ukrainian forces , the Moskva, by using Neptune anti-ship missiles, which are made in Ukraine. That attack, which was carried out with the help of intelligence provided by the Americans, has been a signature moment in the war.
Some U.S. officials say Taiwan should also increase its purchases of coastal air-defense missile systems, armed drones and sea mines.
“The question is: How focused are you on asymmetric warfare compared to other priorities?” said , a senior Asia director on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council.
Suspicions in Washington and Taipei of China’s intentions toward Taiwan have increased during the Ukraine war because Chinese officials have consistently supported Mr. Putin’s rationales for his invasion and that favor Russia.
On Feb. 4, as Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin met in Beijing before the start of the Winter Olympics, their two governments released a joint statement that said their partnership had “no limits.” A line said Russia affirmed that Taiwan “is an inalienable part of China.”
Edward Wong reported from Washington, and Amy Qin from Taipei, Taiwan.
----------------------------------------------------------
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would differ from the Russian military’s efforts in Ukraine and be more difficult. Chinese warships would have to cross more than 100 miles of water in the Taiwan Strait and land forces on the island. The Chinese and Taiwanese sides of the strait are bristling with missiles aimed at each other, and the United States and allied nations regularly send warships through the waterway as a show of force.
Resupplying weapons to a besieged Taiwan, an island, could prove more difficult for the United States and its allies than it has been in Ukraine. As a result, some officials are considering stockpiling large amounts of munitions in Taiwan.
In 2019, the State Department authorized a $2.2 billion sale of weapons to Taiwan that included 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks. Some U.S. officials at the time privately criticized the sale, saying that if Chinese forces advance far enough in an invasion that Taiwan has to use tanks, then the island would probably be doomed.
Many of Taiwan’s more recent orders have been in line with an asymmetric strategy. But some Taiwanese officials continue to press American officials on requests for expensive, conventional platforms like the Abrams tanks.
Several defense experts in Taiwan argue that the island will need some traditional systems to prepare for different war scenarios involving China.
“We have accepted many of the recommendations from the United States, but we still need to have some space to make preparations for the possibility of other, longer-term scenarios,” said Chieh Chung, a security analyst with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei. He said he was worried that the Ukraine war had caused Americans to dig in even deeper on the idea of asymmetry, without considering Taiwan’s specific needs.
“Our artillery systems are so old. They need to be upgraded,” he added. “How can you ask us to take World War II-era equipment to defend against China?”
On Thursday, Chiu Kuo-cheng, the defense minister, told Parliament that the ministry had dropped a plan to buy the MH-60R helicopters because they were too expensive. He did not mention that American officials had been pushing Taiwan not to buy the helicopters. American and Taiwanese officials are also debating whether Taiwan should buy E-2D aircraft made by Northrop Grumman.
In recent weeks, Taiwanese officials have expressed their own frustrations with the U.S. government and American weapons makers, complaining of delivery delays and unfilled orders. Ms. Tsai herself has sent messages to Washington, officials said.
Mr. Chiu said two arms orders had been delayed. One is a purchase of M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, made by BAE Systems, that U.S. officials said was being held up because of inadequate production capacity, according to Taiwanese officials. The defense ministry said it was now considering several alternatives offered by the United States, including HIMARS rocket artillery launchers. BAE Systems told this past week that it had the capacity to build the howitzers for Taiwan.
An order of Stinger antiaircraft missiles has also been delayed, Mr. Chiu said.
Ukraine has asked for , and the Biden administration is providing them. Mr. Chiu said Taiwan had already signed a contract for Stingers and paid for them. The State Department official said the Ukraine war has not affected Taiwan’s order.
Stingers are among the kinds of weapons that U.S. officials have encouraged Taiwan to order. The Americans have also pushed Taiwan to buy Harpoon anti-ship missiles made by Boeing. In April, Ukrainian forces , the Moskva, by using Neptune anti-ship missiles, which are made in Ukraine. That attack, which was carried out with the help of intelligence provided by the Americans, has been a signature moment in the war.
Some U.S. officials say Taiwan should also increase its purchases of coastal air-defense missile systems, armed drones and sea mines.
“The question is: How focused are you on asymmetric warfare compared to other priorities?” said , a senior Asia director on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council.
Suspicions in Washington and Taipei of China’s intentions toward Taiwan have increased during the Ukraine war because Chinese officials have consistently supported Mr. Putin’s rationales for his invasion and that favor Russia.
On Feb. 4, as Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin met in Beijing before the start of the Winter Olympics, their two governments released a joint statement that said their partnership had “no limits.” A line said Russia affirmed that Taiwan “is an inalienable part of China.”
Edward Wong reported from Washington, and Amy Qin from Taipei, Taiwan.
Huh, well gonna wait to see if it gets adressed on either guanqi or chahuahui and what they have to see there I suppose.
席亚洲 might even also make a video on guancha.
Just another day at the office for the Wanwan army...
