Taiwan President Lai Ching-te gave an exclusive interview with Sanli TV’s 'Times Person' program, which aired on the evening of the 28th. Regarding outside concerns that the US CIA stated Mainland China intends to possess the capability to invade Taiwan by 2027, Lai analyzed that if this statement is true, it conversely proves that the PLA currently lacks sufficient strength, and cross-strait amphibious operations are highly difficult. Taiwan should therefore continue to raise the difficulty of its defense.
In the interview, Lai Ching-te cited remarks from the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, saying that Xi Jinping had ordered the PLA to be fully prepared for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. If this intelligence is accurate, it precisely shows that Mainland China’s current capabilities are not yet in place.
Lai analyzed that because Russia and Ukraine are connected by land, Russia could directly launch an invasion, but for China to annex Taiwan, it would have to cross the sea—something that is already an enormous military challenge.
Lai emphasized that Taiwan should not become complacent in the face of threats; the only option is to continuously strengthen its national defense. By persistently accumulating defense capabilities and cooperating internationally, Taiwan should raise the bar for Mainland China's invasion to the level of “never being able to meet the standard,” thereby ensuring Taiwan's security.
The US Department of Defense released its “China Military Power Report” on the 23rd of this month, stating that the PLA is steadily advancing toward the goal of possessing the capabilities needed to achieve “strategic decisive victory” over the Taiwan issue by 2027, and is formulating a “strategic counterbalance” to the US in the field of nuclear weapons. The report said that to achieve these goals, the PLA continues to improve a variety of military options for unifying the two sides of the strait by force. The most dangerous among these include amphibious landings, fire strikes, and possible maritime blockades.
Opposition Parties Embrace Xi Jinping But Target Their Own Democratically Elected President
Regarding the domestic political landscape and issues with the national defense budget, Lai Ching-te questioned the opposition parties strongly. He stated that the opposition alliance had blocked the 1.25 trillion special defense budget four times and had even launched an impeachment against him.
Lai lamented that the opposition parties have publicly praised Russia’s Putin, who started a war, as not a dictator, and have displayed efforts to embrace Mainland China’s leader Xi Jinping, yet in return have launched political attacks against Taiwan’s own democratically elected president. “Society will see justice for itself.”