By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is tomorrow scheduled to unveil its assessment of China’s projected military capability and threat in 2025 as the backbone of its defense policy for the presidential election in 2016.
The report, prepared by the party’s think tank, was a collaboration among 20 Taiwanese and foreign experts on military, technology and information security, including Richard Fisher of the Washington-based International Assessment and Strategy Center, online news Web site Storm Media cited an unnamed source as saying yesterday.
The DPP is expected to highlight the concept of “digital territory” and urge the government to strengthen information security by 2025 because Beijing would be capable of launching an attack or monitoring Taiwan’s military, economic, political and social networks.
China, which began building its aircraft carrier fleet and mid to long-range ballistic missiles in 2010, could develop a military capability which is on par with the US’ by 2025 and would be able to project its military perimeter beyond the first island chain by 2020, according to the news report.
However, the Storm Media report added that the most glaring gap between China and Taiwan would be air combat capability as China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jet could outperform Taiwan’s fighter jets, even if Taiwan’s F-16 A/B fleet were upgraded.
With its rising military capability, China could try to further assert its foreign policy and flex its military muscles by 2020, according to the report.
“By 2020, China could be capable of launching a full-scale war against Taiwan and win the war,” the report said.