The ROC’s two territories in the region have strategic and political significance, yet both are difficult to defend. Taiwan’s Coast Guard in March twice conducted live-fire drills on the Pratas Islands – known in Chinese as the “Dongsha” – located in the South China Sea 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung. Such exercises were rare in…
Military planners say asymmetric platforms will boost Taiwan’s overall warfighting capabilities, raising the cost to Beijing of an invasion. The People’s Republic of China has been threatening to annex Taiwan by force for seven decades. The threat has not been credible until recently, with the ruling Communist Party becoming increasingly emboldened by the country’s rapid…
Taiwan currently leads the world in terms of its procurement of U.S.-made arms, with a total of US$10.7 billion in sales already approved this year by the U.S. Department of State under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The US$8 billion F-16V acquisition accounts for the bulk of this amount, while an agreement for 108…
Sweeter offers and heightened outreach have raised recruitment numbers as Taiwan’s military rapidly transitions to an all-volunteer force. Most nations facing an implacable, existential military threat – examples are Israel, South Korea, and Finland – require military conscription, at least for all adult males. The policy not only helps ensure adequate levels of active-duty personnel…
Supporters say the acquisition of new F-16 Vipers is key not just to defending Taiwan’s airspace, but also to integrating the local manufacturing sector into global supply chains. This August the U.S. government formally offered Taiwan the F-16 fighter jets that it had requested more than a decade ago. It would be the first U.S….
Before the U.S. government announcement last month that it would sell 66 F-16 Viper jet fighters to Taiwan in a deal valued at US$8 billion, there hadn’t been an American sale of advanced military aircraft to the island since the George H.W. Bush administration agreed to supply an earlier version of the F-16 in 1992….
A robust indigenous defense industry would help Taiwan counter China’s unflagging military buildup. In late June, two Chinese destroyers sailed into Taiwan’s territorial waters. They stayed in the Taiwan Strait for nearly a week, coming within 60 nautical miles of Lamay – an island off of Taiwan’s southwestern coast – before sailing onward. It was…
In the face of China’s rapid military build-up and Beijing’s pressure on other countries not to sell weaponry to Taiwan, “what can Taiwan do except develop its own defense industry?” asks National Chengchi University professor Arthur Ding, a defense specialist. “It’s the inevitable outcome of China’s interference.” The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long made…
Taiwan’s Homegrown Submarine Build Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen this week unveiled a new Indigenous Defense Submarine program as part of a commitment to boosting Taiwan’s defense system and improving the island-nation’s military self-reliance. The Ministry of National Defense has contracted the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) and shipbuilder CSBC Corporation for the…
Tsai Makes First Overseas Trip President Tsai’s first diplomatic trip since taking office took place in June with visits to Panama and Paraguay, two important Latin American allies for Taiwan. She began her three days in Panama by attending the opening ceremony of the expanded Panama Canal. After meeting with top officials in the country,…
