The People’s Republic of China (PRC) sees de jure independence for Taiwan as a prime national security threat. Chinese military policies have long been characterized as primarily intended to prepare for contingencies involving Taiwan.
Since the end of the Cold War, the PLA has been internalizing and applying lessons of contemporary warfare from what it believes is an ongoing revolution in military affairs. In considering the “threat” of Taiwan independence, the PLA is especially taken with the notion that coercive power can be utilized up and down the escalation ladder of conflict – from the low rungs of peacetime intimidation and coercion to blockade scenarios, all the way up the ladder to a punishing sea and aerospace campaign against key Taiwan military and civilian assets. Such a D-Day scenario would be combined with political, psychological, and other conflict operations – certainly including electronic/information/cyber warfare.
The PRC seeks to constrain Taiwan’s global interactions while compelling its leaders to abide by Chinese strictures. They are attempting to lead Taiwan’s government into concluding that preparing for its national defense and conducting arms procurement is a useless activity in the face of an overwhelmingly lethal PLA. The PRC also seeks to convince outside partners that offering security assistance to Taiwan is futile.
The United States serves as the primary security assistance partner for Taiwan. The defense and national security work by the US-Taiwan Business Council supports this ongoing bilateral relationship. We work with U.S. and Taiwan defense companies and with both governments to help Taiwan defend against the ongoing PLA threat.