Geo-Strategic Trend - 163. page

As the U.S. is sending more military forces and the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea, Phoenix, a Hong Kong based media with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reported that Chinese experts have recommended using force on Taiwan and attacking South Korea’s THAAD base to counter the U.S.’ threat of using force against North Korea.

On February 6, Phoenix interviewed Yu Yingli, an Asian Pacific expert in Shanghai. Yu said, "I think if the U.S. wants to take the unilateral path of using force, actually we in China should consider tying the Taiwan issue to the North Korean nuclear issue. If the U.S. does not want to rule out the military option on the North Korean nuclear issue, our position on Taiwan, actually, has always been that we do not rule out the option of using force."

Then on February 19, Phoenix quoted military expert Wang Yunfei as saying. "[We] should warn South Korea that, if there is conflict between China and the U.S., the THAAD base, power plant, supply base, and other related facilities in South Korea will be the first target that China’s military will take on. As these facilities are based in South Korea, South Korea should hold the U.S. responsible for the resulting losses and deaths."

Sources:
[1] Phoenix Online, February 16, 2016
http://phtv.ifeng.com/a/20160216/41551232_0.shtml
[2] Phoenix Online, February 19, 2016
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160219/47493071_0.shtml

"There have been many recent developments in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea exploded a hydrogen bomb and used a long distance missile to launch a satellite. The U.S. sent an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers, a strategic nuclear submarine, and Special Forces to Japan and South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea also made substantial progress on planning the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system." A Global Times article commented on the North Korea situation.

The article argued that China must take action to prevent the threat of war there.

"First, [China] should mobilize the international community to convince the parties involved in the escalation to go back to the Six-Party Talks. [China] should let North Korea understand: North Korea will face a national disaster if a war starts and China will not sacrifice its own interests to save a regime that does not listen to its advice. [China] should let South Korea understand: There is no benefit to bringing in external forces to escalate the tension on Korean Peninsula and it is practically impossible to use military threats to have the South unite with the North. It is also hard to convince the U.S. and Japan. [China] should ask the ‘healthy voices’ in those two countries to convince their decision makers to move forward with dialog and then with a peace treaty."

"Second, [China] should work with Russia and other countries that are again creating tension in Northeast Asia to make sure that the U.N. Security Council will not authorize the use of force. There is no situation in which the U.N. should authorize any country to start a war in the peninsula."

"Third, [China] should prepare for a war. Even though there is a very low probably that a war will occur, [China] should be 100 percent prepared."

Source: Global Times Online, February 16, 2016
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/1152/2016-02/8543096.html

Taiwan’s China News Agency (CNA) reported that China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website used the term "Taiwan ‘President’" for the first time.

A news reporter asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson whether the mainland government supported the cyber-attack from mainland China on "Taiwan ‘President’" Tsai Ing-wen’s Facebook page. The Ministry spokesperson denied it.

The CNA article stated that the interesting thing was that the official transcript published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website used the term "Taiwan ‘President.’"

"The Mainland government has long been cautious about words related to Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an example, it always used ‘Taiwan Leader’ or ‘Leader of the Taiwan Region’ to describe the President of the Republic of China. Even when a news reporter used ‘President’ in his question, the term ‘President’ would not appear in the official transcripts." [Editor’s note: the Republic of China is the governing authority over Taiwan. The People’s Republic of China is the governing authority over mainland China.]

As of February 9, the official transcript still had the term, "Taiwan ‘President.’"

Sources:
[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, February 5, 2016
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/fyrbt_673021/t1338806.shtml
[2] CNA, February 5, 2016
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201602050351-1.aspx

On January 21, 2016, Mingpao, a pro Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chinese language newspaper headquartered in Hong Kong, published an article titled, “CCTV Broadcasted the PLA Landing Exercises in Fujian after the Taiwan Election. Military Expert: Propaganda Mainly for Internal Audience Rather Than to Intimidate Tsai.” The original article was taken down from Mingpao’s main website on the afternoon of January 27, 2016. However, the article is still available online at Mingpao Canada and on some other websites which have republished it.

Five days after Taiwan’s presidential election, China Central Television (CCTV) broadcasted the news that the 31st Group Army of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian Province, conducted large scale landing exercises with live ammunition. The 31st Group Army mobilized long-range rockets, howitzers troops, amphibious tanks, and helicopter landing forces. Before 1979, the 31st Group Army, clearly defined as “reuniting China by landing onto the main island of Taiwan,” used to perform shelling of the Kinmen island group and the Matsu Islands of Taiwan. Broadcasting the 31st Group Army military exercises on CCTV, the predominant state television broadcaster in mainland China, triggered much speculation outside of China.

In response, Wu Ge, a military commentator in Mainland China said, “This is a routine exercise. In general, it is mainly used for internal propaganda to satisfy sentimental needs of some extreme nationalists.” Mr. Wu further said, “Tsai Ing-wen has not assumed (the presidency of Taiwan) and has not proposed any policies yet. What made the army so anxious? The main reason was that Xi Jinping was in a tour outside of China. Someone took the opportunity to exaggerate the propaganda. The exercise did not target the Taiwan election. The main purpose of the propaganda targeted Taiwan.”

Source: Mingpao, January 22, 2016
http://www.mingpaocanada.com/VAN/htm/News/20160122/tcaa1_r.htm
http://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20160122/s00013/1453398732530
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