China’s decision to honor three key military units that train for a hypothetical attack on Taiwan showed that its military is focused on potential battlefields in the Taiwan Strait, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a report.
Last month, nine advanced military training units were listed on an honor roll published by the Chinese Military Commission, with two of the units from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command and one from its Southern Theater Command.
The Eastern Theater Command would be the main attack force in a cross-strait war, the council said, adding that its two units were a submarine detachment and a special air support regiment.
Photo: Reuters
The unit from the Southern Theater Command, which was created to assist the main force, is part of an amphibious brigade, the council said.
“These three military units would constitute three key forces in a war against Taiwan: undersea warfare, special air support and amphibious warfare,” the MAC said. “This shows the tendency of the PLA to operate on battlefields in the Taiwan Strait.”
“More military units that are of the main attack force are expected to appear on the commission’s honor roll,” it said.
On Nov. 15 last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told US President Joe Biden during a meeting in San Francisco that there was no plan to attack Taiwan in 2027 or 2035, but added that the problem must be solved eventually, the council said.
In his New Year’s address on Jan. 1, Xi called “the reunification of the motherland” a historical necessity, it added.
Xi’s call to resolve “the Taiwan issue at a certain moment” should be understood as a time when the balance of power between the US and China favors Beijing, rather than a specific timeline, it said.
Retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who served as NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe commander from 2009 to 2013, said in an interview last year that China “will not be ready to take on the US in a very mature way for about 10 years.”
China’s capability and aggressiveness in building a massive fleet would be “inconsequential” given the strength of US military alliances, Stavridis said.
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