So everyone and their brother has heard about the Chinese response to the recent arms sale to Taiwan by the United States. I'm not even going to go into the economic politics but rather I am going to state a few facts and ask a few questions.
I would just like to point out that the US would not sell arms like the UH-60 Blackhawk or the CWIS or any of the other arms which have been sold over the decades if there were not a market for such items. Until such time as the people of Taiwan vote to re-integrate with China, Taiwan is a separate country. This is something that China has historically and rather conveniently ignored. I'm not saying that they should remain separate or re-integrate; all I am saying is two things. The first is that Taiwan IS a sovereign country at this moment in time and is therefore free to determine its own course of action.
The second point is directly related to the first. The ONLY way Taiwan can buy such arms is by approval of the government (this is the market for US arms). One therefore must ask the question, "if Taiwan and China are so much more friendly now than they were in the recent past then WHY would the government of Taiwan claim the need to purchase 'defensive' weapons?" also, why is China so worried about an independent Taiwan? If it came to a military conflict (as seems to be China's main worry according to the 'experts' I'm currently listening to on CCTV-9) China would kick Taiwan's ass in a heartbeat.
The Chinese military is no longer the backwater laughingstock that it was in 1950. They have modern technology and equipment and the people who know how to use them. They have even integrated western military doctrines into their training. What are they afraid of? As a Taiwanese expert recently stated, the People's Liberation Army out numbers the Taiwanese Army, Navy and Air Force combined at least 10 to 1. According to the CIA, Taiwan has just over 319,800 men and women available for military service (this means these people fall within the legal age limits and are not disqualified for medical reasons); a minute amount even IF all of them were trained military personnel. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html). According to the library of Congress, the PLA has 2,250,000 active-duty personnel (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/China.pdf). Even if Taiwan instituted a draft for all military-age men and women, the most people they could draft would only amount to 1/10 of the numbers China fields on a regular day. According to the CIA, China could potentially call-up 600 million souls for military service (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html). From the perspective of Taiwan, a confrontation with China would be suicide.
In summary, the US would not sell arms to Taiwan unless the China-friendly government of a sovereign Taiwan decided it needed such weapons. Secondly it would be suicidal for Taiwan to enter armed conflict with China. Even assuming that the first statement somehow deeply offends the Chinese government, the second statement is true; so what is China afraid of?
**note: I say "sovereign Taiwan" because by the definition of a people electing their own government, it is a sovereign country regardless of the pseudo-statehood status it currently has in the world.
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