June 7, 2002 at 10:54 am
Hi everyone, sorry for the four or five day of absence…work gets in the way a lot. Just thought I would give us all a nice new subject for debate.
I have brought up in the past Chinas “carrier purchase” debate which did focus a lot on the Taiwan problem, so how about Taiwans situation itself. This is what I mean:
1) Taiwan has a number of troops based in the desputed Spratley Island territories, an area not known for its stability. In the past Taiwan has fired upon Vietnamese warships which strayed too close to the area. China, Taiwans big time enemy has troops of its own in this region, which are a lot closer to home. Malaysia and Singapore have no treaty with Taiwan so would be considered possible enemies in the region and the Phillipines is close by, itself not known for its stability. QUESTION A – do you think Taiwan could hold its ground against one of the nations mentioned above if any of them decided to act against Taiwanese positions?
2) Taiwan is much like Britain, a heavily guarded fortress protected aginst land, sea and air threats from China. QUESTION B – Could Taiwan really hold its ground in a full on invasion either now or in 5-10 years time?
You might want to consider things such as distance to cover in the Spratleys and Taiwans defensive posture facing an offensive by a numerically superior force.
Look forward to your thoughts :7