An interesting bit of news from Taiwan that I forgot to mention last week.
According to a computerised simulation conducted by Taiwan’s military, China would capture the island’s capital in just three days if the two sides went to war.
The war games scenario was based on the assumption of conflict taking place next year, with China’s People’s Liberation Army launching air raids before sending in ground troops.
The Washington Times quoted a Taiwanese Defence Ministry official as saying that ‘The purpose of the drill is…to test our defence capabilities in case the People's Liberation Army launched an invasion.’
If that’s the case, then the results must have been something of a blow to Taiwan’s defence planners, and came only days before a report in the Liberty Times quoting a senior intelligence official stating that China is planning to ‘reinforce its defence along its southeast coastlines by increasing the existing some 1,500 missiles to at least 1,800 with an aim to counter America's potential presence in the Taiwan Strait.’