China will pay the price for war, says lone radioman monitoring conflict
One-man mission forms surreal backdrop to three-way presidential poll to decide island’s future
Asilver Ford with homemade antennae poking out from its roof pulled up on the southernmost tip of Taiwan last week. It was driven by Robin Hsu, a former navy radar operator, and the front seat of the vehicle was stuffed with portable radio equipment.
Mr Hsu, 50, has spent the past three years on a lonely quest to document the Chinese military’s growing aggression, recording a war-of-words on military radio frequencies.
Puffing on one cigarette after another, Mr Hsu documents any interactions between Chinese, Taiwanese and US jets and posts the results on Facebook – hoping to warn the world of the seriousness of the threat from Beijing.
On Wednesday, he captured the Taiwanese Air Force warning off a Chinese Y-8 antisubmarine jet as it was approaching Taiwan’s airspace. His quest to capture Beijing’s “grey zone” warfare has taken him to remote hilltops and beaches.
In one of Mr Hsu’s recordings from November, a US officer can be heard telling his Chinese interlocutors that his US aircraft is “operating in international airspace”, ending with an exasperated: “C’mon man!”
China’s escalating military and political pressure on Taiwan forms the backdrop of its presidential and parliamentary elections this weekend as the island nation decides how best to stand up to Beijing.
The new president selected by some 19million Taiwanese voters will be tasked with maintaining peace and stability in one of the world’s biggest potential flashpoints. His leadership will not only set the tone for Taipei’s ties with Beijing but could have profound consequences for China’s relationship with the US.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has warned it will invade Taiwan if it refuses to sign up to peaceful annexation, has repeatedly been accused of trying to manipulate and shape the elections to favour its sovereignty claims.
Yesterday, it said it hoped the majority of Taiwanese “make the right choice”, warning of the “extreme danger” of a victory for Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in triggering a cross-strait conflict.
During the DPP’S tenure, China has ramped up its efforts to intimidate the Taiwanese public and undermine the government by flying military aircraft into Taiwan’s buffer zone next to its territorial airspace almost daily.
Mr Hsu finds the brazen operations maddening. “If China is trying to scare us it will only bring the Taiwanese together. It will make us stronger,” Mr Hsu told The Telegraph this week.
“We need to be ready to fight if war happens,” he said. “If China really brings war here, they will have to pay a huge price.”
Local people have learned to live with the thunder of regular military exercises, a constant reminder of the potential for conflict.
China and Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party have framed the poll as a choice between war and peace. The DPP has criticised the KMT for parroting China’s line, and argued voters face a decision between democracy and autocracy.
On Thursday, Hou Yu-ih, the KMT’S presidential candidate, who trails Mr Lai by only a few points, claimed that his opponent was a danger to cross-strait relations and the DPP had failed over eight years in office to de-escalate tensions with China.
Pledging that Taiwan’s future would be decided by its own people, he said he would strengthen deterrence both militarily and through dialogue.
The third candidate, Ko Wen-je, a maverick former mayor who founded the centrist Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), has emerged as an unexpected political force who offers a middle path out of the deadlock of the two establishment parties.
All three have vowed to bolster Taiwan’s military and defence capabilities and to protect Taiwan’s tight bond with Washington, the island’s main arms supplier.
The question facing Taiwan’s voters is who they trust most to safeguard their cherished freedoms and democratic way of life.
Any annexation of the island would have major economic and security repercussions.
Taiwan produces 90 per cent of the world’s most advanced semiconductor microchips, which are vital to household goods and every industry including artificial intelligence.
A blockade of the Taiwan Strait would affect the transport of 50 per cent of the world’s containers and cost the global economy at least $2 trillion (£1.6 trillion), according to independent researchers the Rhodium Group.
The eyes of the world will be on Taiwan’s elections. A Hou win could lead to less military activity around the island, a pause in economic penalties and resumed dialogue. But it is unclear how long that potential honeymoon period would last.
‘We need to be ready if war happens. If China really brings it here, they will have to pay a huge price’