Taiwan invests US$15 billion in indigenous defense project - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Taiwan is going to invest close to US$15 billion into indigenous shipbuilding projects in an effort to become more independent from changing US policies on defense, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:

The Taiwanese Navy announced 12 new shipbuilding and force modernization programs covering a 23-year period at roughly $14.7 billion on Monday. This indigenous build effort is part of an overall plan to wean Taiwan off expensive and politically troublesome US defense acquisitions — which often consist of refurbished older platforms — and develop a robust defense industry on the island. 

The projected timeline runs from 2017 to 2040, and programs include a Taiwan Aegis destroyer and frigate, submarine, high-speed minelayer, landing platform dock (LPD), 11 additional stealthy Tuo Jiang-class missile corvette catamarans, and multi-purpose transport. Other programs include more AAV7s, a type of assault amphibious vehicle, for the Taiwanese Marine Corps, underwater swimmer delivery vehicles for special forces, and assorted weapons for special forces. 

Despite the impressive list that includes a wide variety of vessels and systems, orchestrated by the Navy’s Naval Shipbuilding Development Center, the list is considered by some Taiwan defense analysts to be a “Christmas wish list.” As of now, only three of the programs have been officially authorized and funded for construction.

More in Defense News.

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China builds amphibious Taiwan scenario - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

China´s military have been building out amphibious capability for their Taiwan invasion scenario, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News, quoting an annual report by the Pentagon for the US Congress.

Wendell Minnick:

China’s military is expanding its capabilities for an amphibious assault on the self-ruled island of Taiwan. This, according to the newly released “Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China,” which is issued by the Pentagon each year as mandated by the US Congress. 

China now has two amphibious mechanized infantry divisions, one amphibious armor brigade, 11 army aviation brigades and regiments, three Airborne divisions, and two Marine brigades. For the navy, new ships include 30 tank landing ships/amphibious transport docks, 22 medium landing ships, and China has signed significant purchase contracts with Ukraine for assault hovercraft. 

China’s investments in its amphibious ship force signal China’s intent to develop an expeditionary and over-the-horizon amphibious assault capability, said the report. “Since 2005, China has built three large Yuzhao-class (Type 071) amphibious transport docks with a fourth soon to enter service, providing considerably greater and more flexible capability for ‘far seas’ operations than the older landing ships.” The Yuzhao can carry up to four of the new Yuyi-class, air-cushion medium landing craft and four or more helicopters, as well as armored vehicles and marines for long-distance deployments. 

Additional Yuzhao construction is expected to continue, as is a follow-on amphibious assault ship that is not only larger, but also incorporates a full flight deck for helicopters. Two Yuting II-class tank landing ships (LST) are currently being built to replace older LST units that are reaching the end of their service lives. 

The Pentagon report states that Chinese writings indicate there are different operational concepts for an amphibious invasion of Taiwan, but the most prominent of these is the Joint Island Landing Campaign, which envisions a complex operation relying on coordinated, interlocking campaigns for logistics, air, naval support and electronic warfare. “The objective would be to break through or circumvent shore defenses, establish and build a beachhead, transport personnel and materiel to designated landing sites in the north or south of Taiwan’s western coastline, and launch attacks to seize and to occupy key targets or the entire island.”

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Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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Taiwan startups have to learn to make mistakes - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Startups in Taiwan have huge opportunities, but they tend to be too conservative, says William Bao Bean,  Managing Director of Chinaccelerator. Especially, they needs the guts to fail, he tells The News Lens.

The News Lens.

“Taiwan’s startups have a huge opportunity,” (William Bao Bean) says. There is an abundance of highly educated technical and engineering talent with global experience and good command of English. The cost of R&D is also relatively low in Taiwan. 

However, generally investors and entrepreneurs tend to be more conservative. There is a culture of disrespect for failure. Taking the risk of failing or embracing international collaboration seems to be a mental obstacle that is hard to get through, which limits the potential of business development. What Taiwan needs are more role models who take risks and achieve success. Taiwan’s market is small, so entrepreneurs should go global, Bao Bean says. 

An investor’s support and an entrepreneur’s ambition, it’s a chicken-and-egg problem. But no matter how, “Young people have to be brave to fail and just don’t make the same mistakes again. Embrace failure. Only through failing will you learn how to succeed,” says Bao Bean firmly.

More in the News Lens.

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Earlier we discussed with William Bao Bean how mobile payments are going to hurt traditional banks and credit card companies

What makes mobile apps run? - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

In Taipei the Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX) has launched and SOSV partner William Bao Bean has jumped over from Shanghai to support the operation, in PRunderground he explains what it takes to develop the next mobile apps for 4 million users.

PRunderground:

Traditionally, early stage companies struggle to expand beyond their home markets and especially into emerging markets where monetization can be difficult. 

“Mobile startups depend on rapid user growth and a viable revenue model to be successful.  This is why we created MOX, where we can deliver both automatically to our batches.  No other accelerator can help startups ramp revenue and users around the world the way we can,” says William Bao Bean, Investment Partner, SOSV. “We are also fortunate to have Alvin, a seasoned mobile-industry entrepreneur, as the program director. I’m confident he will lead MOX to become the leading accelerator targeting mobile-only markets globally.”

More in PRunderground.

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Why baseball doesn´t take off in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Many sports see China as their Promised Land as people spend more money on their leisure activities. Also baseball officials from the US expect an eager audience in China, but marketing expert Tom Doctoroff begs to differ, he tells the Baltimore Sun.

The Baltimore Sun:

"Baseball in Taiwan is popular because it came from Japan. And Taiwan is very Japan-friendly," said Tom Doctoroff, Asia Pacific CEO of advertising firm J. Walter Thompson, in an email interview from Shanghai. 

While "the spirit of the game" is relevant to "ultra-civil Japan," Doctoroff said, "there is nothing inherently compelling about baseball to Chinese people. It doesn't allow for heroic release like soccer or continuous demonstration of clever resourcefulness like basketball." 

The only China-born player to make the major leagues was Harry Kingman, the son of Western missionaries, in 1914. Miami Marlins pitcher Austin Brice was born in Hong Kong but, like Kingman, is not of ethnic Chinese heritage.

More in the Baltimore Sun.

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Shrinking Taiwan military moonlight as China spies - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Taiwanese military increasingly spy for China, as their future in the military looks dim, as relations between Beijing and Tapei improve, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News. Share their information with China is one way to cash in on their knowledge.

Wendell Minnick:

Over the past several years, Taiwan military officers have sold China information on the E-2K Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and PAC-2 anti-ballistic missile systems, Hawk air defense missile system, and the Raytheon Palm IR-500 radiometric infrared camera. Taiwan defense sources said that on the Taiwan side, China has collected all the data needed to compromise the Po Sheng C4I upgrade program and the Anyu-4 air defense network upgrade program, Shuan-Ji Plan (electronic warfare technology project), and the Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) joint standoff weapon. 

A common anecdote used by the Western media suggests China uses a “grains of sand” or “mosaic” approach to collecting intelligence. That is, China collects intelligence from a broad effort by low-level, often amateur, sources to form an overall picture. However, Chinese efforts in Taiwan indicate otherwise.

More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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New spy games between China and Taiwan - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Officially China and Taiwan are still at war, although hostilities are mostly verbal. Until Taiwan arrested an alleged spy from China this month, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:

Taiwan has arrested an alleged Chinese spy, the first such apprehension in Taiwan in decades, according to the National Security Bureau. 

The question many here in Taipei are asking is whether China will attempt some sort of swap to get him back. China is holding two Military Intelligence Bureau agents who were captured in Vietnam more than a decade ago. 

On Jan. 16, Taipei prosecutors went forward on indictments on mainlander Zhen Ziaojiang's alleged spy ring, which included five Taiwanese accused of spying for China. The indictment charged former Army Maj. Gen. Hsu Nai-chuan, Air Force Lt. Col. Chou Chih-li, Air Force pilot Sung Chia-lu, Air Force official Yang Jung-hua, and karaoke club owner Lee Huan-yu. 

According to media outlets, Zhen was a captain and an intelligence officer in the People's Liberation Army. This has given rise to the assumption that the Army's Second Department of the General Staff Department was in charge of the operation. 

In 2005, Zhen obtained residency in Hong Kong and began flying to Taiwan ostensibly on business and tourist trips, which were allegedly missions to recruit Taiwan military officers, according to government statements to the press. Zhen's alleged mainland intelligence contact has been identified as a "Mao Shangyu," most likely a pseudonym, based in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, the statements said.

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Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

What are the most important China trends for 2015. At the China Speakers Bureau we listed our 7 major trends.

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China buys Russian SAM installation to threaten Taiwan - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Can China´s military equipment reach Taiwan, was a key question military on the island asked themselves. After China´s purchase of 400-kilometer-range S-400 Triumf road-mobile SAM systems from Russia, that answer is "yes", writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:

The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation has downplayed recent Russian-language media reports of an agreement and contract, but “as I understand it, it is basically true,” said Vasiliy Kashin, a China military specialist at Moscow’s Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. 

Russian media reports indicate China and Russia have signed a US $3 billion contract to procure an initial six S-400 battalions. The missile is an upgraded variant of the S-300, now fielded by China in battalions based near major cities and scattered along the coast facing Taiwan and Japan. 

Kashin, who attended the recent Airshow China in Zhuhai, said that with a range of 400 kilometers and fielded in Fujian Province, the SAM system will be able to cover the whole of Taiwan airspace, thus finally solving the “problem of air superiority for the Chinese.” If China chooses to deploy the S-400 in Shandong Province, it will provide coverage of airspace over the Senkaku Islands. “That will be another asymmetric capability, together with anti-ship ballistic missiles, which will boost Chinese potential in dealing with the local conflicts in East Asia,” Kashin said. China has staked a claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which it refers to as the Diaoyu Islands. Other factors suggesting China will deploy the S-400 over the East China Sea include the fact that China declared an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, including the Senkakus, in November 2013.

More in Defense News. S-400 Triumf surface-to-air launch vehicle

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More Taiwanese military selling secrets to China - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Defense analyst Wendell Minnick identifies one of the driving forces in rising Chinese espionage on Taiwan: a growing number of Taiwanese military see not future, and try to make some money by selling secrets to China, he writes in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:

As relations improve between Beijing and Taipei, military morale still continues to fall as fewer Taiwan military officers see a future in an ever-shrinking armed forces. Many are beginning to cash in on their intimate knowledge of military secrets, including classified information on US military equipment. 

Over the past several years, Taiwan military officers have sold China information on the E-2K Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and PAC-2 anti-ballistic missile systems, Hawk air defense missile system, and the Raytheon Palm IR-500 radiometric infrared camera. 

Taiwan defense sources said that on the Taiwan side, China has collected all the data needed to compromise the Po Sheng C4I upgrade program and the Anyu-4 air defense network upgrade program, Shuan-Ji Plan (electronic warfare technology project), and the Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) joint standoff weapon. 

A common anecdote used by the Western media suggests China uses a “grains of sand” or “mosaic” approach to collecting intelligence. That is, China collects intelligence from a broad effort by low-level, often amateur, sources to form an overall picture. However, Chinese efforts in Taiwan indicate otherwise.

More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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Why Chinese tourists are flocking to Japan - Wei Gu

+Wei Gu 

Japan regained its top position as favorite holiday destination for Chinese tourists, after the US and Taiwan. WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu explains why the political disputes with Japan are easing down, and how the qualify of life is attracting Chinese, apart from a more favorable currency.

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch of fill in our speakers´request form.  

Taiwanese brand Shiatzy Chen takes on Tokyo - Paul French

Paul French

Taking on the Japanese market is not easy for anybody, and certainly not for Chinese. But Shiatzy Chen, a luxury fashion brand from Taiwan with a 35-year history, seems to be making all the right moves, says retail analyst Paul French in the Women's Wear Daily. 

The Women's Wear Daily: 

Paul French, a China-based analyst, said it makes sense for Shiatzy Chen to target Tokyo.
"[It's] well made and cut nicely for a slimmer hipped, reduced bust figure that suits many women in the region... Wang Chen over there is very canny - she's always seen herself as the Asian region's Chanel - understated, known by the discerning... [those] who want the clothes that say 'Chinese' etc without the quality issues or bling," he said.

More in the Women's Wear Daily.

Paul French is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Taiwan's early warning radar watches China - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

The most powerful early warning radar (EWR) is based on Taiwan, and admired by everybody apart from China, writes defense expert Wendell Minnick in Defense News. 

Wendell Minnick:

Taiwan’s early warning radar (EWR) on the island’s west coast has gained the respect of just about everyone in the region — except China. And for good reason, sources say. It is the most “powerful radar in the world,” said a Taiwan defense industry source. 

“Even the Americans don’t have anything close,” he said. 

Sources debate the potential power of the radar, based on Leshan Mountain near the city of Hsinchu, but all agree it is a multifaceted, ultra high frequency (UHF) radar capable of tracking air-breathing targets — including cruise missiles — and ballistic missiles at 3,000 kilometers, depending on the target. 

“It’s more of an intelligence collection system than a ballistic missile defense warning system,” said one US defense industry source. “Taiwan can see almost all of China’s significant Air Force sorties and exercises from this radar.”

More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

China Weekly Hangout

The +China Weekly Hangout will have open office hours coming Thursday, where you can drop in to discuss any issue, but where we want to focus on technical problems you have or we have had with hangouts. The development of this Google tool is going pretty fast, offering every week more new bells and whistles, but also with regularly new challenges. You can join us on Thursday 28 November 10pm Beijing time, 3pm CET (Europe) or 9am EST (US/Canada).

You can read our announcement here, or join the event by watching, commenting or actively joining at our event page.

+Steve Barru, +李洛傑 and +Fons Tuinstra wrapped up on the +China Weekly Hangout on October 3 the news on Shanghai's Free Trade Zone, and end in a not-so positive mood about what this new zone is actually going to do.

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The facts on China's Air Defense Zone - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

China's Ministry of Defense shocked the international community by setting up an  East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) including the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islets and started air patrols. In the Defense News military expert Wendell Minnick gets all the facts together as far as we know them. 

Wendell Minnick: 

What appears to be a crisis in the making, China’s Ministry of National Defense (MOD) has established the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) effective as of 10 a.m. on Nov. 23.
The zone covers the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islets claimed by China, Japan, and Taiwan. The islets are under the administrative control of Japan. China has been flying unmanned aerial vehicles into the area of the islets and Japan has threatened to shoot them down.
China launched two aerial patrols, one Tu-154 and one Y-8, over the area the day of the announcement and Japan deployed two F-15 fighters to intercept.
China’s ADIZ overlaps Japan ADIZ by approximately half, causing concern the overlap could start a war. The Chinese ADIZ also overlaps Taiwan (Republic of China/ROC). According to a Nov. 24 statement by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan will “adhere to the principles set forth in the East China Sea Peace Initiative [set forth by President Ma Ying-jeou on Aug 5), with the aim of resolving disputes peacefully, while taking appropriate measures to ensure the safety of ROC airspace.” Ma’s five-point peace initiative urges all “parties to refrain from antagonistic actions; not abandon dialogue; observe international law; resolve disputes through peaceful means; and form a mechanism for exploring and developing resources on a cooperative basis.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement on Nov. 23 urging China not to impose a “unilateral action” that “constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea.” Further, the US is “deeply concerned” about the announcement and “escalatory action will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident.” 

More at Defense News. 

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form?   

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