TAIWAN WARNS OF BEIJING’S ABILITY TO NEUTRALISE ITS DEFENCES

TAIPEI/HONG KONG: Taiwan warned that China could neutralise its defences in a conflict, a stark new assessment expected to fuel calls in Washington for more support for the democratically ruled island.

China has the ability to neutralise Taiwan’s air-and-sea defences and counter-attack systems with “soft and hard electronic attacks”, the defence ministry in Taipei said in a report to lawmakers seen by Bloomberg News. The document offered a more alarming assessment than last year’s report, which had said China still lacked the capability to launch an assault.

While Beijing wasn’t believed to possess the transport and logistical capacity necessary for an invasion of Taiwan’s large and mountainous main island, the ministry recommended monitoring Chinese efforts to expand training and preparations for complex landing operations. China already has the ability to seize Taiwan’s surrounding islands, it said.

Policy makers in the US and Japan have expressed growing concern about Taiwan’s vulnerability to attack after decades of Chinese military investment and President Xi Jinping’s efforts to ramp up pressure on the island’s government.

Meanwhile, seven Hong Kong democracy activists were sentenced on Wednesday up to 16 months in jail for their role in an unauthorised assembly at the height of anti-government protests in 2019.

They had pleaded guilty to charges, including organising and inciting others to take part in the illegal assembly on October 20, 2019, when tens of thousands took to the streets and police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.

They include Figo Chan, a former convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front; Raphael Wong and Avery Ng of the League of Social Democrats political party; and former legislators Cyd Ho, Yeung Sum, Albert Ho and Leung Kwokhung, who is known as “Long Hair”.

POLICY MAKERS IN THE U.S. AND JAPAN ARE CONCERNED OVER TAIWAN’S VULNERABILITY TO ATTACKS AFTER DECADES OF CHINESE MILITARY INVESTMENT.