Posted on 03/13/2002 9:57:36 AM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
China's army to prepare for 'military struggle' March 12, 2002 Posted: 10:57 PM EST (0357 GMT)
Willy Wo-Lap Lam Senior China Analyst
(CNN) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has asked the armed forces to make "solid preparation for military struggle" in order to attain national reunification.
While addressing military delegates to the National People's Congress, Jiang said: "to solve the issue of Taiwan and realize complete reunification of the motherland is one of the three major tasks for the Party and the nation in the new century."
However, Jiang, who is also Chairman of the policy-setting Central Military Commission (CMC), did not lay down specific tactics or a definite time-frame for taking back Taiwan.
Sources close to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said Jiang was using harsher than usual rhetoric on Taiwan partly in response to recent events between Taiwan and the United States.
They included the on-going visit to the U.S. by Taiwan Defense Minister Tang Yao-ming and American arms sale to the island.
"Jiang is facing more pressure particularly from mid-ranking PLA officers to be tougher with Taiwan and the U.S.," said an army source.
"Jiang's response is that the nation must focus on economic development. He is, however, willing to satisfy the generals' demand for bigger budgets."
In his speech to the PLA delegates, Jiang stressed the importance of a hi-tech army -- and the need to take advantage of China's entry to the World Trade Organization to learn more about the armies of Western countries.
The president, however, underscored the imperative of the party's strict control of the PLA.
Same deal with China's rapidly-evolving space program. They would deny Western powers access to space while using space capabilities in a military operation against Taiwan. They will be on the moon by 2010, and they won't be just visiting like NASA/Apollo.
If the latter, there's no reason they couldn't try to pull a Cuban Missile Crisis on us.
I can't get past the name LMAO
Did he know Wong Wei?
I wonder what the other two are. I'm guessing one of them is to manufacture every tennis shoe on the planet.
Absent a LOT of amphibious sealift (more than the US Navy has at this time) able to support an opposed assault, any Chinese "military struggle" for Taiwan will need Louis Farrakhan as a consultant, because it will be the "Million Man Swim."
All of our Aircraft Carriers ALREADY go around S. America or Africa to get to Taiwan...because ALL of our aircraft carriers are too wide to fit through the canal.
The same is true of pretty much all of the supertankers bringing imported oil.
And, as it is, the Chinese Navy could easily be crushed by just a part of the US Fleet that is already based on the West Coast.
The Panama Canal isn't quite the strategic linchpin it used to be.
I wouldn't be so confident of our ability to defeat them in warfare.
Smugness is a poor defense against a determined enemy.
That depends on the arena in question. On land, you have a point. In the air or on sea--where we would be most likely to fight them, because of Taiwan--they don't have the material needed.
I wouldn't be so confident of our ability to defeat them in warfare.
What KIND of warfare? I don't think we'd go for the straight-out infantry slugging match.
Smugness is a poor defense against a determined enemy.
Making an enemy ten feet tall when he isn't is a poor way to win a war.
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