More Pressure on the Arms Freeze

An op-ed in the reliably pro-Taiwan Washington Times by a retired US admiral points out some of the flaws in the arms freeze, and the threat Taiwan still faces despite peace in our time "reduced tensions."

Chinese military writings over the last decade have made it patently clear that Taiwan's value to China is as a new military base. They look at Taiwan as an unsinkable aircraft carrier; controlling Taiwan will allow Chinese military forces to break out of what has been called the "First Island Chain" and to then dominate East Asia. Even with President Ma's conciliatory moves to reduce tension with mainland China, there has been no reciprocity by the PRC. Since the Taiwan election in March, China has shown no inclination to reduce its order of battle facing Taiwan, or even to slow the rate of growth in these forces. The Chinese air force flies up to five sorties a day up to the "midline" of the Taiwan Strait, creating a strain on Taiwan's air defense posture, made more burdensome by the increasing number of nearly-impossible-to-evade, long-range Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.

Since 2001, the number of Chinese ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan has increased from about 400 to over 1,250, and include 250 new land attack cruise missiles. The number of modern, fourth-generation fighters facing Taiwan has grown from about 150 to about 500. The number of modern submarines has grown from about eight to about 30. This does not include the new underground submarine pens on Hainan Island, which provide a base to interdict the critical sea lines of communication coming from the Straits of Malacca to Taiwan and our allies Japan and South Korea.

Had the Bush administration's original 2001 arms sales package to Taiwan of new destroyers, new Patriot anti-ballistic missile interceptors, P-3 anti-submarine aircraft and eight new, conventional submarines been transferred immediately, Taiwan might have been able to sustain a margin of technical superiority and deterrent capability. Further, as many as 66 new F-16 fighters that Taiwan has requested in the last two years would also have to be added to the equation.

Ma's strategy of selling out Taiwan to achieve "peace" is a total failure. Even allowing for the usual exaggeration of the threat, there is no question that China's arms build-up has continued apace.

[Taiwan]