Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) Mainland China may achieve combat superiority over Taiwan in three to five years if it continues to beef up its war fighting preparedness while the Republic of China does not do the same, Defense Minister Tang Fei said on Tuesday.
Commenting on a US assessment that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is now capable of achieving air superiority, sea superiority, and information dominance, as well as paralyzing Taiwan in 45 minutes, Tang said the ROC armed forces are not that fragile, but the scenario could become fact if Taiwan fails to upgrade its preparedness as fast as mainland China.
Tang made the remarks during an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan.
The Pentagon, in a recent report on the PLA's strategic war fighting in the 21st Century said that the PLA's growing arsenal of highly accurate and lethal theater missiles and a preemptive doctrine could give Beijing a decisive edge in any future conflict with Taiwan.
The danger of this is that the Beijing leadership, having acquired an overwhelming offensive advantage, might be more inclined to use force even if Taiwan does not declare de jure independence, according to the report.
Citing other American allies as having said that if Taiwan does not strengthen its defensive capabilities, the PLA would acquire an overwhelming offensive advantage over Taiwan sometime between 2005 and 2010, Tang stressed that a military balance across the Taiwan Strait can be achieved if Taiwan increases its war fighting capabilities.
Above all, however, Tang said, the key to victory is solid esprit de corps and high morale. Without a strong psychological preparedness for war, like the people of Israel possess, all its advanced military equipment would only be superficial, he added.
Meanwhile, Tang made an appeal to legislators that current wildlife conservation laws be revised to allow military bases to use eagles to help in the Air Force's efforts to scare away birds that have proven to be one of the major causes of jet fighter accidents, a problem not confined to Taiwan alone.
He added that the real causes behind one of the Air Force's Mirage 2000-5 crashing into the Taiwan Strait on Oct. 15 remained to be investigated, although it has been confirmed that a bird was sucked into its engines, damaging its turbo blades, within 15 minutes after taking off.
If the military bases are allowed to keep eagles, the feathered animals will help the Air Force control the number of wandering migratory birds and racing pigeons, substantially lowering the chances of the further downing of expensive war planes, Tang said. (By Deborah Kuo)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
