A mighty offense is the nation's best defense

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/04/29/2003138514

Interesting editorial that points out the monetary costs of defensive weapons and offensive weapons. The writers claim it is a 9 to 1 ratio cost wise, e.g., for every US$100 million the PRC spends on offensive weapons, Taiwan must spend US$900 million to counter it.

I had always thought that the biggest deterrent to a PLA invasion were powerful and devastating missles capable of destroying Zhongnanhai and the surrounding area. Missles deployed in Taiwan capable of striking anywhere in the PRC would be much more frightening to Beijing’s arrogant CCP officials than the latest patriot defensive missles. It is ridiculous that Taiwan is not allowed to have the means to strike back at those that will give the orders to invade with powerful offensive weapons.

Wouldn’t you not be afraid of attacking someone that you knew would only try to push you back like they were riot police with shields, or simply block your punches and not punch back! The United States should either allow Taiwan to purchase or build long range missles, or promise unequivocally that they will defend Taiwan no matter what (Maybe they already did?). Perhaps it is even time to base US troops in Taiwan again.

The authors:

I have probably forgotten more about the ROC than these two know together. Southwest Missouri State University? Is that another name for Po-dunk U? Like I am going to put any stock in what a graduate student there has to say about Taiwan. Probably had to have it pointed out on a map for him.

“Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!”

I think Cuba once tried that strategy with the USA.

“Silly Rabbit. Trix are for Kids”

don’t worry about china… the forumosan popular people’s front (FPPF) is being organised as we speak. to paraphrase bear64 misquoting winston churchill:

“we shall fight them on baishawan beach, we shall fight them on chung shan n. rd, (sec. 4-7) we shall fight them outside roxy 99; and we shall never surrender”

the bear,

You mean FPPF is going to invade the mainland and conquer it for ROC, ROT, ROF?!? Good for them its been 50 years in the making already.

Make sure they buy some bootleg DVD and cheap soy milk before they come back.

[quote=“ac_dropout”]the bear,

You mean FPPF is going to invade the mainland and conquer it for ROC, ROT, ROF?!? Good for them its been 50 years in the making already.

Make sure they buy some bootleg DVD and cheap soy milk before they come back.[/quote]
What kind of BS non sequitor are you posting now ac_dropout? Nobody wants to invade the mainland. We wouldn’t want that polluted piece of crap to be part of Taiwan. That is just some geriatric KMT/PFP Opium pipe dream. Now these same geriatrics instead of fighting the Communists they want to betray Taiwan and collude with them. What happened to the good old soldiers from China that hated the Communists?!

Hobart,

Yes of course Taiwan pollution is much cleaner than those of PRC. Just like Independence is a pipe dream of the DDP.

Enemies in the past, allies in the future. It’s politics. Old Sick man of the east becomes the Dragon of the East. The world changes.

It’s is ironic the DDP has taken up the mantle of hating the CCP long after the KMT realised that the future of Taiwan is in China now. All the major business have moved there. The most talented college graduates from Taiwan go there now. Half of ROC economy is dependent on PRC now.

Are you advocating that ROC act like NK and just ignore the world as it changes.

Where’s taiwan going to get 9:1 USD to invest in an arms race. Taxes collected from ROC Companies operating in the PRC. That’s even more ironic.

Fired_from_AC: You really are a moron. Your posts lack basic logic. Why must Taiwan become part of the PRC in order to do business there? The USA does just fine as does Japan and Taiwan. All separate countries with investments and business and fresh graduates in China, but I don’t see anyone in those countries advocating unification with the COMMUNIST PRC, and those countries are not even in a state of cold war with the PRC. Don’t waste our time in the Taiwan politics forum with your drivel. If you like the place so much, exchange your US passport for a PRC passport and then you really will be able to do some serious business there. Some of us think that freedom is more important than money. Damn hypocrite US passport holding China boy.

Hobart,

Why does Taiwan need to declare Independence? That just antagonizes the delicate relationship ROC and PRC has.

ROC is not Japan nor the USA, why bring them up as destination goals for ROC to have.

What you don’t have a USA passport or something? You don’t have a plan B when the DDP miscalculates international politics and gets the island blown up.

I know you’re type already, when the missles comes you’ll be on a first class ticket out of Taiwan before I even get my bags packed. You’ll drive like a Taiwanese and cut lines like a Taiwanese to get you and your family out of there. So don’t use false bravado of “I’m going to die here and fight the commies from block to block.” Because I know you won’t do it.

“Freedom,” “democracy” and a whole host of ideological nonsense are just propoganda concept. Freedom cannot be aquired without first aquiring money. Until someone makes up a new economic paradigm, money is what will make the world go round.

U r so bullshit

[quote]Longtimer in Taiwan? “[T]here is [something] called the Taiwan Relations Act and I honor that act, which says we will help Taiwan defend herself if provoked.” - President of the United States George W. Bush speaking at Beijing’s Tsinghua University
“The Taiwan Relations Act does not commit the United States to come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of an attack,” - Senator John Kerry (Democrat of Massachusetts) said in an April 25 speech to the Senate. Who would you vote for?[/quote]

Kerry, of course. He has correctly described the position of the TRA, and knows what he is talking about. Bush, as usual, has everything half-assed.

Vorkosigan

[quote=“Vorkosigan”]
Kerry, of course. He has correctly described the position of the TRA, and knows what he is talking about. Bush, as usual, has everything half-assed.

Vorkosigan[/quote]

Which is exactly why Kerry is supported by the Communist Chinese and North Koreans.

[quote=“ac_dropout”]Hobart,

Why does Taiwan need to declare Independence?[/quote]
Taiwan is already independent you fool. Are you really here in Taiwan or are you in the PRC posting from the Xinhua news foreign propaganda department? You speak as if you have never been to Taiwan. Everyone who has been here knows that Taiwan is in NO WAY Connected to China and it is in fact a spearate independent nation and does not need to declare independence because Taiwan is already independent.

Hobart,

Get real if Taiwan was independent you wouldn’t be ranting about it all the time.

You don’t see many US expats ranting that USA is independent of England, because it is and we don’t need to talk about it, post about it, discuss about it, or flame about it.

Historically and Culturally it is connected to China. Everyone speaks Chinese or a dialect of Chinese on the island. Everyone takes 2 weeks off for Chinese New Years. Everyone writes Chinese. The economy, like the rest of the world is dependent on China. It foriegn policy is also playing Catch up with China.

Moderator’s reminder:
The topic of this thread is “A mighty offense is the nation’s best defense”

[quote=“cranky laowai”]Moderator’s reminder:
The topic of this thread is “A mighty offense is the nation’s best defense”[/quote]

Nice one Cranky. So AC, what do you think about Taiwan purchasing more offensive weapons over defensive weapons? Do you think offensive weapons would be a better deterrent than defensive ones? Do you think China would think twice about invading if Taiwan had ballistic missles capable of destroying with precision the Zhongnanhai compound?

How would destroying anything in China make any difference, since the Chinese have both nukes and a complete lack of scruples? Unless Taiwan armed itself with enough nukes to take out every city in China (but then where would the fallout land? Here!) there isn’t any amount of damage China wouldn’t be willing to sustain. Damage will be temporary, but the change in political status for Taiwan (and strategic position for China) will be permanent. The best deterrent for a Chinese invasion is US support.

Vorkosigan

Vorkosigan: You think that CCP members would easily sacrifice their own lives or the lives of their friends and family in order to usurp Taiwan, or are you saying they would sacrific the lives of many PRC citizens to get Taiwan, but not necessarily their own?

What I am saying is that Taiwan should be able to hit back at the homes of the ones that are making the decisions to invade Taiwan. I feel those CCP leaders and PLA generals must be thinking they could invade Taiwan (and if there was no support from the USA) they wouldn’t themselves get hurt. Many thousands of PRC soldiers from the countryside would be killed, but not the CCP leaders homes or families in Beijing.

In light of this, I think that in addition to support from the USA, Taiwan needs to be able to strike with devastating force into the heart of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong!

Sacrifice their own people. I doubt they would sacrifice themselves or their families.

I understand the idea, but it won’t work. They’ll set up mobile command posts beyond the reach of any Taiwan missiles.

It would be far more effective to target China’s electricity plants. That’s why one important component of Taiwan’s defense should be an electricity system decentralized and based on wind and solar.

Vorkosigan

Sure hit the 3 gorge project and flood China.

If China ever got wind that Taiwan had any serious military threat to the stability of China. It would be the Cubian missle crisis all over agian. This time China plays the USA, and Taiwan plays Cuba. My Dio scooter would be a Desoto. And Pres. Chen can play Castro.

And where would this money come from? USA congress is already pissed off that Taiwan did not allocate funds for the military arms suggested 3 years ago.

USA see Taiwan as an ATM to make convenient withdrawls.