China appears determined to develop and maintain the capability to overwhelm any anti-ballistic missile defense system that Taiwan can deploy.
Despite a $15.3-billion special budget to buy Patriot PAC-3 air defense systems, diesel submarines and PC-3 Orion surveillance planes, Taiwan has failed to keep pace with the growth in China’s military capabilities, the 2005 annual Pentagon report on China’s military capabilities said this week.
Beijing has a range of options short of a full-scale invasion of a Taiwan, including limited strikes to break the will of Taiwan’s leadership or population, the report said.
China could unleash a campaign involving computer network attacks, sabotage by special forces and strikes on key military or political sites with short-range missiles or warplanes, it said.
“Although Beijing might view these as a complement to non-military coercion and as less than a full use of force, others may view such actions differently,” the report warned. “Such a Chinese miscalculation could lead to a full-fledged conflict.”
