On Thursday, August 4, China began large-scale live-fire exercises around the island, in which it used DF-17 hypersonic missiles for the first time, and will continue until the 7th.
In an interview with the “Izvestia” newspaper, expert Vasily Kashin, director of the Comprehensive Center for European and International Studies, said that the balance of military power has shifted rapidly to China’s side in recent years. Therefore, China’s superiority over Taiwan is unquestionable.
“Now the question is whether the Taiwanese army can withstand the Chinese army until US help arrives. In general, no one trusts its ability to protect the island, especially since China is qualitatively and numerically superior to Taiwan. According to the geographical factor, the island area is completely satellite, including China. 36 1,000 square kilometers under the control of reconnaissance systems.”
The expert points out that the island is close to the Chinese mainland, so it is not only under the range of short-range ballistic missiles, but also under the range of missile launchers, which are superior in performance to the systems of American HIMARS.
“Taiwan does not have enough airports and Chinese missiles will destroy the airports that are there from the first hour,” he said.
“Taiwan is trying to take asymmetrical steps, and it cannot change the balance of power even if it buys billions of dollars worth of weapons and military equipment. Last year it signed contracts with the US just for the purchase of weapons, worth $20 billion.”
According to him, China feels the strength and ability to solve the Taiwan problem by force, but also knows the risks.
“Of course, this operation requires a major naval landing operation the likes of which the world has not seen since the end of World War II. There are many surprises in this process. There could be a million reasons why everything went so well. Contrary to what happened. expected, and before the arrival of American forces in the region, China had to hold hands. He could not live in Cezire.
According to Vasily Kashin, China is aware of the political and economic consequences of such a decision, so it can only be taken after despair of solving the problem peacefully.
Source: “Izvestia” newspaper.
Source: Arabic RT
