Security Threats Rise, Taiwan's Defense Ministry Says Chinese Missiles Can Reach Military Command Centers

Illustration of China's Dong Feng 21A missile. (Wikimedia Commons/Max Smith)

JAKARTA - Taiwan's Defense Ministry says China's armed forces can cripple Taiwan's defenses, illustrating the increasing threat from its giant neighbor.

Beijing is stepping up military activities around Taiwan, which it considers Chinese territory. One of the major powers in the world has never left the power to continue to put Taiwan under its control.

In its annual report to parliament on China's military, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Taiwan's Defense Ministry presented a far worse view than last year, when it said China still lacked the capability to launch a full-fledged attack on Taiwan.

This year's report said China could launch what it called a "soft and hard electronic attack", including blocking communications across the western half of the first island chain, a chain of islands stretching from the Japanese archipelago, through Taiwan and down into the Philippines.

China could combine its internet army to launch wired and wireless attacks against the global internet, which would initially cripple our air defense, naval command, and counter-attack systems capabilities, posing a grave threat to us, the ministry said.

"China has also increased its reconnaissance capability using Beidou, China's answer to the US GPS navigation system", Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said, citing Reuters on September 1.

"This means Beijing can monitor movement around Taiwan, aided by the regular use of Chinese spy planes, drones, and intelligence-gathering vessels", continued the report. China's Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request for comment.

Although the Taiwan report noted, as of last year, China still lacks transportation capabilities and logistical support for a large-scale invasion, the Chinese military is working to increase those capabilities.

With a precision missile strike that can hit anywhere on the island, China is also capable of crippling Taiwan's military command center and its naval and air combat capacities, the report said.

Not only that, Chinese spies in Taiwan are said to be able to carry out beheading attacks to destroy political and economic infrastructure.

"With the deployment of medium and long-range missiles and more exercises involving its carriers, China is trying to position itself to delay 'foreign military intervention' in attacks against Taiwan", said the Ministry's report.

To note, President Tsai Ing-wen has made Taiwan's defense strengthening program a priority, building up its domestic defense industry and buying more equipment from the United States, the island's most important arms supplier and international supporter.

Most recently, last month the United States Department of State approved the sale of 40 units of the 155mm M109A6 Paladin self-propelled artillery system for US$750 million to Taiwan.