The Telegraph reported that China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan with videos of a simulated major attack on the Island and an alleged “spying confession” of a Taiwanese businessman. Last Week during Taiwan’s National Day, President Tsai Ing-wen of the 24 million island nation had the temerity to “urge the Chinese Communist Party to engage in meaningful dialogue” on an equal basis. China has been making several demonstrations of force with its air force “crossing the Taiwan Straits” middle line. China has rejected any negotiations with Ms. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government was elected in 2016.
China is even peevish toward the proposal of the Kuomintang opposition party the KMT in Taiwan that has proposed “independence” and renewal of relations with the US. The semi-official Global Post of the Chinese Communist Party noted:
“Taiwan's "Legislative Yuan" on Tuesday passed two proposals from the KMT, which are to "request the US to help confront the CPC," and "for the Taiwan Island and the US to resume diplomatic ties," Taiwan local media reported. The KMT also called on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to "work actively" on these two issues.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, responded by saying that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and both sides of the Taiwan Strait belonging to the same China is an unalterable historical and legal fact”.
The Trump Administration further enraged the CCP by sending US Secretary for Health and Human Services Alex Azar, followed by Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment to Taiwan. The RAND Corporation’s Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst with the RAND Corporation and an expert in the region, said the approach went hand in hand with a strategy being referred to in the Pentagon as Fortress Taiwan.
He told Express.co.uk: "For decades, the US has sought to bolster Taiwan’s defensive capabilities to prevent China from being able to successfully launch an amphibious invasion against the island, or to otherwise conduct military operations meant to harm it (such as a blockade or missile strikes)”. The question Grossman suggests is the “right mix. His suggestions; sea mines and anti-ship missiles.
But Dr. Stephen Bryen, Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense during the Reagan Era is someone who knows Taiwan’s has a better idea. In a Newsweek article he wrote of a suggestion he made at a lecture at Taiwan’s National Defense University in 2018: “I proposed having a standby force of F-35's in the U.S. that either would belong to Taiwan or be leased to Taiwan. That force would be available to respond to any retaliation by mainland China”. Bryen’s Newsweek article was immediately republished in Taiwan news outlets causing a flurry of attention.
Rod Reuven Dovid Bryant and Jerry Gordon brought back Dr. Bryen to discuss his proposals for Taiwan and his views on the current conflict in the South Caucasus between Azerbaijan and Armenia with regional ramifications involving Russia, Turkey, Israel, and Iran.
The following are takeaways from the interview with Dr. Stephen Bryen.
On deterrent value of US leasing F-35 to Taiwan.
Beyond the Matrix 14OCT2020 - PODCAST