|
pic.: the website-group was
ranked No.1 "understand Taiwan" on
Yandex of Russia, 2023-9-22, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-25, 2023-7-10, 2023-6-24, 2023-6-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-3-4, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-19, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-15, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-24, 2022-11-29, 2022-11-1, 2022-10-31, 2022-10-10, 2022-10-4, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-13, 2022-8-20, 2022-7-21, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-15, 2022-6-2, 2022-5-25, 2022-5-14, 2022-4-30, 2022-4-21, 2022-4-9, 2022-3-25, 2022-3-20, 2022-2-22, 2022-2-14, 2022-1-29, 2022-1-4, 2021-12-27, 2021-12-10, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-28, 2021-10-22, 2021-10-8,
2021-6-16,
2021-6-2
pic.:
The websites group was ranked
No.1 "understand Taiwan" on Microsoft Bing,
2023-9-22, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-25, 2023-7-10, 2023-6-24, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-4, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-19, 2023-1-22, 2023-1-15, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-24, 2022-11-29, 2022-11-1, 2022-10-10, 2022-10-4, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-13, 2022-7-21, 2022-6-15, 2022-6-2, 2022-5-25,
2022-5-14, 2022-4-30, 2022-4-21, 2022-4-9,
2022-3-25, 2022-3-20, 2022-2-22,
2022-2-14, 2022-1-29, 2022-1-4, 2021-12-27,
2021-12-10,
2021-12-4, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-28, 2021-10-25, 2021-10-22,
2021-10-8, 2021-10-5, 2021-9-30,
2021-8-22,
2021-6-30, 2021-6-16, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-15,
2021-4-17,
3-5-2021, 2-12-2021, 1-20-2021,
1-1-2021, 11-29-2020, 10-10-2020, 8-5-20208-17-2020, 6-21-2020, 5-13-2020, 4-3-2020,
2-26-2020, 2-5-2020, 12-31-2019, 12-10-2019;
No.2 "understand Taiwan"
on Bing, 2022-8-21
The websites group was ranked
No.1 "understand Taiwan" on
ecosia (Germany), 2023-9-22, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-25, 2023-7-10, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-19, 2023-1-22, 2022-12-24, 2022-11-29, 2022-11-1, 2022-8-20, 2022-7-21, 2022-7-1, 2022-4-30, 2022-4-21, 2022-4-9, 2022-3-25, 2022-3-20, 2022-2-22, 2022-2-14, 2022-1-29, 2022-1-4, 2021-12-25, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-28, 2021-10-22, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-5, 2021-9-30,
2021-8-22, 2021-6-16,
2021-6-2,
2021-5-13,
2021-4-17,
3-3-2021, 2-12-2021, 11-17-2020, 8-17-2020; No.2
"understand Taiwan" on Ecosia,
2023-3-4, 2023-1-1, 2022-10-10, 2022-10-4, 2022-9-20;
No.1 "understand Taiwan" on
Yahoo Taiwan, 2023-8-8, 2021-9-30, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-16,
2021-6-2,
2021-5-13,
2021-4-17,
3-3-2021, 2-12-2021, 1-20-2021, 11-17-2020, 8-17-2020
pic.:
The websites group was ranked No.1 "understand
Taiwan" on Lycos, 2023-9-22, 2023-8-21, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-25,
2023-7-10, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-1-22, 2023-1-15, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-24, 2022-11-29, 2022-11-1, 2022-10-10,2022-10-4, 2022-1-28, 2021-10-8,
2021-9-29,
2021-8-22, 2021-6-16,
2021-6-2,
2021-5-13,
2021-4-17,
3-3-2021,
2-12-2021, 1-20-2021, 11-17-2020,
8-17-2020,
5-13-2020;
ps: No.1 "understand
Taiwan" on SearchEncrypt, 2023-1-22, 2022-10-10; No.1 "understand Taiwan" on Excite,
2021-10-8, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-16,
2021-6-2,
2021-5-13,
2021-4-17,
2-12-2021, 1-20-2021, 11-17-2020, 8-17-2020, 05-13-2020;
The websites group was ranked
No.1 "understand Taiwan" on
Swisscows (Switzerland), 2023-8-8, 2023-7-10, 2023-6-22, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-10,
2021-10-28, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-16,
2021-6-2,
2021-5-13,
2021-4-17,
3-3-2021, 2-12-2021, 11-17-2020, 8-17-2020, 6-21-2020;
No.2 at 2023-7-25
|
US defend Taiwan ? |
|
◆
The Hill, 2023-9-26 |
During a Tokyo interview
alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden repeated his statement on defending Taiwan: “That’s
the commitment we made.” But, when asked whether “the
policy of strategic ambiguity towards Taiwan [is] dead,”
he replied “No.” |
|
◆
National Review, 2023-9-19 |
It's noteworthy that Biden declined to say a single word about
Taiwan in his
U.N. speech
came a day after the Chinese Communist
Party's armed forces sent 103
jets into Taiwan’s air-defense identification zone —
which is a new record that surpasses even the Chinese
tantrum that followed then–House speaker Pelosi's
visit to Taiwan. |
|
◆
Washington Post,
2023-9-28: Taiwan launches the island's first domestically made
submarine for testing |
|
♦ CNN,
2023-9-28: President Tsai Ing-wen hailed
this
as a significant milestone.
“The submarine is an important realization of our concrete
commitment in defending our country”.
♦ Newsweek,
2023-9-29: Taiwan's former
military leader who heads the submarine program said that the
slated eight Hai
Kun-class boats would bolster the country's defenses to the point that "I don't think we will lose a war.". |
♦ BBC, 2023-9-28: National University of Singapore
Drew Thompson:
the "centre of gravity" for any China-Taiwan naval conflict
would not likely be in the deep waters off the island's east coast,
where submarines would be most effective in...Instead,
the main theatre of war would be in the shallower waters of the west
coast facing mainland China... The submarine is
not optimised for a counter invasion role...
♦
NewsWeek,
2023-9-29: A senior
researcher at RAND:
The relatively shallow, choppy waters of the Taiwan Strait were
well-suited for masking submarines but also harder to operate in.
Policy experts in the U.S. have urged Taipei to adopt an asymmetric
defense strategy based on "lots of small, deadly things—anti-ship
missiles, anti-air missiles, etc.—that would make Taiwan a porcupine."
Such an approach would become more useful, and submarines less so。
♦
The Diplomat,
2023-9-30:
The ODC
(
typically utilizes large numbers of cheaper, smaller, shorter-range, and
more survivable weapons systems.) appears to
have fallen
out of favor as
a result of institutional opposition, even though the United States has
sought to pressure the
government to focus on less gold-plated procurement projects.
|
◆
Reuters, 2023-9-28: Taiwan says"
it's not likely for them (China) to do anything major to threaten Taiwan or
anything so visible that the Taiwanese people understand that they are trying to
intervene in our election"
◆
Economist, 2023-9-26:
Taiwanese voters will in effect be asked
to decide whether Taiwan should remain aligned with America in strengthening
deterrence against a possible Chinese invasion, or should move towards building
ties with China. The opposition Kuomintang has called the vote a choice between
“war and peace”, implying that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s
hostility towards China will provoke it to attack.
China...narratives that portray America, not China, as the island's
biggest threat.
◆
Washington Examiner, 2023-9-26:
Americans are increasingly concerned over
tensions between China and Taiwan, with more than 80% reporting the problem is
"somewhat" or "very serious" for the U.S.
◆
full text
◆
The Daily Caller, 2023-9-24:
China is
on the fast
track to
wage war against Taiwan —
and the US,
experts say.
China has been preparing for
the possibility of fighting the U.S. over Taiwan going back to around 1996 or
1997 after realizing Washington intended to preserve the status quo of Taiwan's
semi-autonomy, experts explained.
◆
19FortyFive, 2023-9-21:
China is building a powerful military
to beat America in a war over Taiwan; China is
readying for war today ◆
1945, 2023-9-20:
China's military
is preparing
to invade Taiwan
.
China's military has developed advanced
methods for depriving the Americans of their vaunted advantage in space, threatening the
US in the cyber domain, and possibly disrupting the
electromagnetic (EM) spectrum to sabotage American forces ◆
New York post, 2023-9-19: PLA would have to do a combined
amphibious and airborne air assault operation, which is an incredibly
complicated joint operation to be able to do
◆
Reuters, 2023-9-19:
Chinese blockade of Taiwan would likely fail, Pentagon official says
◆ Military,
2023-9-13: By 37% to
22%, Americans on a bipartisan basis believe we should militarily protect Taiwan
◆
Daily Express, 2023-9-9:
China has reached the "height of its power"
which may prompt Beijing to launch an invasion of Taiwan, former National
Security Advisor John Bolton exclusively told Daily Express US;
the United States
was not ready ... - something which Beijing would see
as an “opportunity”◆
Foreign Policy,2023-9-5: China
could exploit
its geographical proximity and advancing capabilities to win a regional war
against Taiwan.
U.S. deterrence against China
( to
convince Chinese President Xi Jinping that an attack would fail.
) is
not working.
The
U.S. military may merely need to raise China's
perception that any conflict would be drawn out and exceedingly costly.
◆
American Legion,
2023-9-6: Some predictions have estimated war
could break out as early as 2029.
Dr. Shelley Rigger, a Davidson College professor,
acknowledges that such forecasts are made with careful thought, research and
analysis. Still, she says, it's a situation in flux.
◆
Washington Examiner, 2023-9-6:
Former President
Donald Trump hinted that
he would not order a U.S. military intervention against
China were it to
attack Taiwan
◆
Daily Express (UK),
2023-9-2:
WW3 fears explode as China
warns US of 'imminent storm of lethal consequences' over Taiwan
after President Joe Biden announced more military aid for Taiwan
from a fund typically used for sovereign states.
◆
Sky News (Australia),
2023-9-1:Taipei is no Kyiv: Taiwan is playing a dangerous game by using
the war in Ukraine as an 'inspirational' example of how to fight off an invading
force
◆
Daily Express (UK),
2023-8-27: China
sparks major war fears as dozens of aircraft and vessels
either crossed the median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait or breached
Taiwan's air defence identification zone in a major escalation.
Former Defense Intelligence
Agency officer Matt Shoemaker told Daily Express US the chances new military
packages will repel an invasion are low.
◆
The
Telegraph, 2023-8-22: China's Taiwan invasion: Battle for the Strait will be a
colossal missile duel
◆
Washington Examiner, 2023-8-22: China boasts
record-high military recruitment, if military aid
(Taiwan war) is needed, America's sagging recruitment numbers could be a
problem.
|
Using Foreign Military Financing
（ＦＭＦ） program to transfer
military aid to Taiwan will likely infuriate
China. |
|
USA |
China |
|
♣ CNN
(2023-8-30):
US approves first-ever military aid to Taiwan through program
typically used for sovereign nations
♣ Bloomberg
(2023-8-31):
The Foreign Military Financing mechanism covers
international organizations as well as nations
♣ VOA
News (2023-8-30): previous
arms sales to Taiwan have been approved under other authorities that do not necessarily imply statehood.
U.S. officials were quick
to say that the provision of FMF funding to Taiwan did not represent a change in
policy. It's a position the Chinese are sure to disagree with
♣
The
Hill (2023-9-1):
the first time the U.S. has provided military assistance under FMF to Taiwan and the
second time it’s given it to a non-nation-state, the first being to the African
Union. |
♣
The
Hill (2023-9-1):
China says it ‘deplores’ US military transfer to Taiwan
♣ GT
(2023-8-31):
Whether it was Biden's use of "presidential authority" to provide
military aid to Taiwan in late July, or this first-ever military aid
through the so-called "Foreign Military Financing program," Washington
is impatiently applying the model of military assistance to Ukraine to
the Taiwan region. |
|
Council on Foreign Relations,
2023-8-29 China VS.
Taiwan |
|
|
China |
Taiwan |
|
active duty forces
|
2,035,000 |
170,000 |
|
artillery
|
9,800 |
1,200 |
|
principle surface
combatants |
139 |
57 |
|
fighter jets |
1900 |
300 |
|
bombers and attack
aircraft |
450 |
0 |
|
submarines
|
71 |
2 |
|
cfr.org/blog/taiwan-announced-record-defense-budget-it-enough-deter-china |
◆ The
Conversation, 2023-8-16:
According to some
Taiwanese observers, the people of Taiwan would be unwilling to pay such a
heavy price (Ukraine is
paying a heavy price in terms of lost
lives and a shattered
economy) to preserve its political autonomy.
◆ The
WarZone, 2023-8-16:
Taiwan's arsenal of counterstrike weapons like
the HF-2E would not be sufficient to outright stop an actual invasion from the
mainland.
◆
The Hill, 2023-8-8:
More ominously, the failure of the world's
toughest-ever sanctions regime to bring Russia to heel could embolden China's
expansionist designs against Taiwan, especially since similar sanctions against
Beijing would have even less impact.
Yet the U.S. is still not giving
sufficient priority to deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
◆
Washington Examiner, 2023-8-7:
the predictable outcome now seems all but
certain: whether during Taiwan vice-president Lai's
visit or in the weeks following, the two nations' recent detente will fade amid
their intractable political differences
◆ ABC
News, 2023-7-30:
China has accused the United States of
turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot”, which
will
not deter its will to unify the island
◆ ABC
News, 2023-7-28:
The Japanese government has stepped up its
alarm over Chinese assertiveness and Taiwan tensions,
warning in 2023 defense white paper. ◆ Daily Express, 2023-7-23: Japan says:
If people all over the world have the will to support Taiwan, it would be very possible that we will provide some kind
of support to Taiwan...the government would need to first secure the support of the
population before intervening.
◆
Financial Times, 2023-7-23:
Washington is reducing some
long-term deployments in the Indo-Pacific,...the US's
decision to help Ukraine only with weapons and the wavering of some European
countries about support for Kyiv do not bode well for Taiwan ◆ BBC, 2023-7-21:
Much of the
#MeToo
focus is still on sexual harassment, and "large-scale exposure" of
sexual assault is yet to happen, that
can only happen with more resources legal and counselling support
from the state. The government must extend the statute of limitations for
prosecuting sexual harassment cases, which is currently six months.
◆ Washington
Post, 2023-7-17:
Taiwan abandoning the One China framework aggravates the risk of
war
◆
ResponsibleStatecraft.org,
2023-7-17: War with China over Taiwan? Don't
expect US allies (Japan, Australia, Korea,
Philippines, Thailand) to join
◆
Reason, 2023-7-19: According
to a January survey by the Brookings Institute, 62
percent of respondents said that Pelosi's visit "made Taiwan less secure."
◆
full text ◆
|
◆
What would be the signs that a
PLA invasion is in the planning ? |
♦
Economist, 2023-7-27: China would want to secure adequate
supplies of commodities, namely energy ( coal, gas, oil - one of the
best indicators ), food and metals (unusual metal-buying patterns,
export controls on rare-earth metals ) and to
reduce the country's dependence on the dollar.
China might
move its foreign-exchange reserves out of dollars and euros and into
assets such as gold,
and probably tighten its capital controls,
they also might freeze all foreign funds in China,
etc
economist.com/china/2023/07/27/could-economic-indicators-signal-chinas-intent-to-go-to-war
♦
National Interest
, 2022-11-21:
there would be reliable indications,
including surging production of various missiles, rockets, and key munitions, China would take visible
steps to insulate its economy, military, and key industries from disruptions
and sanctions and would start preparing the population psychologically for
the cost of the war....
They might take a strategic advantage, such as by catching the rest of the world off-guard, capitalizing
on the chaos and distraction in other countries.
nationalinterest.org/feature/china’s-new-politburo-has-taiwan-its-crosshairs-205909
♦
Japan Times, 2022-10-18:
some of indications could be a mix
of both short- and long-term economic steps to try and insulate the
Chinese economy from external vulnerabilities and to minimize China's
dependency on the world while maximizing the world's dependency on
China. Short-term economic indicators are more likely to signal Beijing’s
intent. These could include a number of abrupt steps such as freezing foreign
financial assets within China, quickly repatriating Chinese assets held abroad,
a surge in stockpiling emergency supplies such as medicine or key technology
inputs and a suspension of key exports such as critical minerals, refined
petroleum products or food. japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/18/asia-pacific/signs-china-invasion-taiwan/ |
|
news:
◆
National Review, 2023-7-15:
the Chinese
military is advantaged if a Taiwan invasion is viewed as a local, limited
conflict... Janet Yellen: If reelected, president Biden may prefer not to fight
for Taiwan.
◆ CSIS.org, 2023-6-29:
Fundamentally,
both the August and April exercises were suggestive of an
“encirclement” of Taiwan using PLA Navy forces;
the April exercises were no less significant than
those in August.
◆
Yahoo Finance, SCMP, 2023-6-23:
Council on Foreign
Relations (CFR)
called on the United States to "bolster deterrence" against any
attempt by Beijing to use "force or coercion to achieve
unification with Taiwan"; The
Americans were "not
keen on" improving ties
with Beijing, with Washington tilting more towards "strategic clarity" on
Taiwan policy instead of its stated "strategic ambiguity".
◆
New York Post, 2023-6-19: Blinken ruffles feathers by
stating US "does not support Taiwan
independence" – as an inappropriate
kowtow to America's greatest
adversary.
◆
Bloomberg, 2023-6-15:
US Presses Taiwan Opposition Candidate
Over China Policies; Washington will want to be assured that
KMT's Hou has “a clear stance on China and international policy..."
◆ National
Interest, 2023-6-15:
If China
launches an invasion without first destroying America's
military assets in the region, its ships will be left vulnerable to attack.
However, if it launches a preemptive strike on U.S. forces, especially on
American soil in Guam, it will experience the full wrath of a vengeful
United States
◆
Washington Post,
2023-6-14:
Biden and Xi recognize that war between the two nations would
be suicidal for both. They understand that the most dangerous flash point is
Taiwan. While the nations’ differences over Taiwan are irreconcilable,
irreconcilable does not mean unmanageable ◆
Wall
Street Journal, 2023-6-7:
Sexual misconduct
allegations roil
Taiwan's U.S.-friendly
ruling party. ◆
Bloomberg, 2023-6-7: Taiwan president apologizes twice in week
for #MeToo allegations,
Tsai: “We’ve also seen such cases are everywhere, not
only in the DPP or other political parties..."
◆
USNI, 2023-6-7:
on paper Taiwan fields one
of the world’s most advanced ASCMs, but we don’t have the data
on actual performed real combat.”;
Taiwan has not been transparent about how many missiles it can
make.
there are “rumors [sic]
about slow production” related to “hang-ups in the defense [sic]
industrial complex” and Taiwan is “struggling to produce large
numbers of anything.”;
Taipei
has to decide whether to continue dividing resources across two
different strategies - a traditional navy or
an asymmetric one
◆
full text
|
National Interest, 2023-7-16 -
Willing to fight ? |
|
China |
Taiwan |
|
a study conducted by Adam Y. Liu
and Xiaojun Li, 55 percent of the
respondents supported “launching a unification war ” while 33 percent
opposed it ... another online survey in
ThinkChina and Taiwan Inside, 53.1 percent supported
armed unification with Taiwan, while 39.19 percent opposed it among
Chinese elites. |
Instead
of making a commitment to defend their territory, most Taiwanese people
have a huge hope to rely on external support, particularly from the
United States...
extension of the compulsory conscription
program received backlash from younger Taiwanese. |
|
Taiwan war
- ready to fight ? |
|
Taiwan |
China |
|
◆ Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-5:
Taiwan
is far from ready, Taiwan's military budget is still only
2.4% of the GDP—compared with about 5% in Israel.
The professionalism and motivation of
Taiwan's military are a particular concern.
A lot of young people who signed up for
the four-year volunteer force decided to pay a penalty and dropped out early
because they say they had come for the money—not to fight and not to die
wsj.com/articles/taiwan-china-ukraine-russia-hong-kong-military-war-517b87d?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
Yaroslav
Trofimov
Joyu
Wang |
◆
Sky News Australia, 2023-7-8: Xi
calls for 'enhanced war planning'
◆
WION 2023-7-7:
Xi says the PLA must dare to fight.
Beijing has ramped up political and military pressure on
Taipeimsn.com/en-in/video/watch/dare-to-fight-chinas-president-inspects-forces-in-flashpoint-region-near-taiwan-details/vi-AA1dxGfN |
|
|
World's Best Hospitals 2023
by Newsweek & Statista
comparison among Asia's selected ten countries -
Taiwan's best hospital ranks world No.249
in top 250 list
newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2023 |
|
Asia's rank |
country |
total number of top 250
hospitals |
|
1 |
Japan |
18 |
|
2 |
S.
Korea |
18 |
|
3 |
Australia |
7 |
|
4 |
Singapore |
5 |
|
5 |
Israel |
3 |
|
6 |
India |
3 |
|
7 |
Thailand |
1 |
|
8 |
UAE |
1 |
|
9 |
Taiwan |
1 |
|
10 |
Saudi Arabia |
0 |
Taiwan's NTU Hospital ranks world No. 249
Asia's
China, etc are
not included in survey list - in total 28 countries |
|
Taiwan's NTU Hospital ranks behind selected
hospitals of Thai. and UAE
|
|
 |
★
TaiwanPlus,
2023-3-6:
A poll
| |
TAIWAN in all aspects ! ☉
below each visual parody, cartoon on
The dark side of Tw.
are
related or relevant reports or
comments