China's anti-satellite test in January increased the country's military threat to Taiwan by demonstrating a limited ability to blind the U.S. satellites that would be deployed in defense of the island, according to a report from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Secret new U. S. intelligence about China proves the Chinese are accelerating the test of new medium and long range ballistic missiles which could affect Taiwan and U. S. strategy toward China, especially if it were ever to attack Taiwan.
The next US president will find that one of his re-occupations will be China and Taiwan - and how to stop their war of words from becoming a full-blown conflict. The latest verbal exchange between Beijing and Taipei raises a potentially new danger - that of Taiwan acquiring an offensive missile capability.
The author warns that the arms race between China & Taiwan could soon get out of control and expand to include not only conventional weapons but also space-based systems and nuclear missiles, if not defenses against those missiles."
While mainland China's first foray into manned space flight later this month has more to do with prestige than military ambition, Beijing is developing space-based capabilities that could be used in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, according to an expert with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Taiwan maintains a qualitative edge over Chinese forces in the air and at sea, but has only negligible defenses against China's ballistic missiles, a Pentagon report on Chinese military power said.
This paper discusses NMD's potential "cascading effect" upon the China-South Asia nuclear balance as well as other possible repercussions in Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
James Mulvenon asserts that the China-Taiwan-U.S. triangle of asymmetric capabilities, dominance and fervor fosters a dangerously unstable environment in the Taiwan Strait, making escalation control difficult.
Taiwan plans to use a locally developed missile shield rather than purchasing the US-made Patriot weaponry to defend the central and southern part of the island against any attacks from arch-foe China.