The Diplomat | China, India, Asia Pacific News & Opinion
Taiwan thanks China for making enemies out of everyone around as that would actually help more countries come to its defense during the Chinese invasion.
Japan Explores War Scenarios with China By J. Michael Cole
January 9, 2013
As Japans Liberal Democratic Party national defense task force announced on Jan. 8 that it would increase the nations defense budget by more than 100 billion yen ($1.15 billion), three of five scenarios explored by the defense ministry recently involve the Self-Defense Forces squaring off against the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).
The third, and perhaps most controversial, scenario focuses on how Japan would react to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2021, a date reportedly chosen because it coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to the scenario, the PLA would rely mostly on amphibious vehicles, special forces, ballistic missiles, and a fighter blockade to achieve its ends.
Although the latter scenario makes it clear that the hostilities would primarily involve the PLA and Taiwanese military forces, it nevertheless raises the possibility that China would attack U.S. and Japanese bases on Okinawa, while using long-range ballistic missiles, such as the DF-21D and DF-31, to threaten aircraft carriers in the region and the Western United States should U.S. forces attempt to intervene in the conflict.
Interestingly, Japan would have a responsibility to come to Taiwans aid in the event the PLA engages Taiwanese forces, the Japanese-language Sankei Shimbun said in its reporting on the scenarios on Jan. 1.
Taiwan thanks China for making enemies out of everyone around as that would actually help more countries come to its defense during the Chinese invasion.