Taiwan’s Defense Strategies: A Focus on Asymmetric Warfare

No one desires war, yet history has proven that when tensions run high, it is often the arbiter of a nation’s fate. In recent years, as the China-Taiwna relationship grows increasingly tense, consternations have been raised regarding the occurrence of another impacting war that can reshape the global demographics. While the Chinese government has repeatedly claimed that it doens’t want war, it also views it as a last resort to obtain the island. If a war unfortunately erupts, the Taiwanese army would be significantly outnumbered by the People’s Liberation Army, who has “the largest standing army in the world with 2 million members and much stronger air, naval and firepower than Taiwan.” [1] Thus, it’s certain that the Taiwanese army doesn’t stand a chance against the People’s Liberatino Army when it comes to direct combat, which requires its government to come up with unconventional strategies to counter the potential threat.

Decades ago, if the war were to break out, Taiwan could capitalize on its geographic location as the extended mountain ranges protect the Eastern part of the island from attack, simultaneously enabling support forces sent by its allies, like the United States, to land. However, modern warfare has evolved and imposed a greater challenge on the Taiwanese army. Lately, the PLA has conducted a series of military demonstration “around” Taiwan. Not just at the Taiwna Strait, but rather on the Eastern side as well, where “Taiwan has built much of its hardened military infrastructure along this coast, including a large underground airbase inside a mountain near the city of Hualien. It is also close to Japan’s southern islands, and a natural resupply route.” [2] The intended message behind this series of actions are clear: the Chinese army are capable of imposing a blockade on Taiwan during attack, not just economically, but also foiling those that desire to help Taiwan from successfully entering the country, a strategy referred to as A2/AD. Meanwhile, while the sea surrounding Taiwan seems to be a natural barrier that makes it more vulnerable to blocades, it can actually be used to the island’s advantage when it comes to head-to-head warfare. “Taiwan’s west coast has shallow waters extending from most of its beaches, meaning they are not ideal for an invading force.” [3] More importantly, the beaches along Taiwan’s west coast can make the PLA suffer dearly in amphibious invasion, which is defined as “military operations characterized by attacks launched from the sea by naval and landing forces against hostile shores.” The Taiwanese army can leverage the geographic advantage by deploying fast-attack missile boats, anti-ship missles, and conastal artillery along the shoreline, making the invasion difficult. An historic example of attackers suffering profoundly in amphibious invasion is the Normandy Invasion, where a total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed by the Germans before even getting on the beach. This shows that if the Taiwanese army successfully make use of the island’s geological advantage, it might be able to hold on, or even push back the enemies.

After thorough analysis, our team came up with two strategies which we deem to be beneficial to the Taiwanese army in warfare. Firstly, instead of investing in expensive weaponaries like jets or tanks, the army can put more emphasis on purchasing powerful but highly-mobile weapons that can prevent the enemies from landing. This includes anti-ship missiles, coastal defense artillery, or depth charges that target incoming naval vessels. This is because the Taiwanese army doesn’t stand a chance against the PLA when it comes to head-to-head battle due to the significant strength gap. Instead, the Taiwnese forces should focus on holding the Chinese off by causing damage before they got onto the island. Moreover, the government should put more emphasis on protecting the island’s outer waters, especially those of the Eastern shore, as Eastern Taiwan could potentially become the base of recuperation and foreign reinforcement if secured. This could also build resistance to the nation because iit can prevent economic and military blockade by the PLA during warfare. Together, these strategies form a comprehensive defense framework that enhances Taiwan’s military capabilities regarding the cross-strait relations.

Works Cited

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/10/how-prepared-is-taiwan-for-a-war-with-china

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqvv29gpqn1o

https://www.cfr.org/article/why-china-would-struggle-invade-taiwan

https://www.britannica.com/technology/amphibious-warfare

https://apnews.com/article/dday-wwii-france-invasion-military-b02d03fa11f66767a521a3b01357a89a