Taiwan Studying Ukraine War Tactics, Discussing With US

[McCool]

TAIPEI —
Taiwan's defense ministry has set up a working group to study the tactics of the war in Ukraine, including how the country has been able to hold out against Russia, and has been discussing this with the United States, its minister said Thursday.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion, wary of Beijing possibly making a similar move on the island, though it has reported no signs this is about to happen.

The possible impact of the war on China's military thinking on Taiwan, and how China could attack the island, has been widely debated in official circles in Taipei.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of parliament, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said they had had "contact" with foreign countries to talk about how the war was being fought, and had set up their own working group to study it.

Topics Taiwan is following include Russia's poor military performance and Ukraine's resistance, he said.

"It is not only discussed in exchange meetings between the United States and Taiwan, but also discussed with other countries that have regular contacts with Taiwan," Chiu added, without giving details.

Taiwan's team on Ukraine includes academics from the National Defence University, he said.

"However, we will not make remarks rashly, but through internal discussions which are important, to get results that are helpful for building armaments and preparing for war."

While Taiwanese officials have seen many parallels in the Ukraine war and their own situation, including having their own giant neighbor with territorial ambitions, they have also pointed to major differences.

Taiwan has talked, for example, of the "natural barrier" of the Taiwan Strait which would make China putting troops on the ground much more difficult than Russia just crossing over its land border with Ukraine.

Taiwan also has a large and well-equipped air force, and is developing its own formidable missile strike capability.

Taiwan Studying Ukraine War Tactics, Discussing With US

The island has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion

www.voanews.com

China has been stepping up its military pressure against Taiwan over the past two years or so.

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future.

 

[Saithan]

The water is a natural barrier regardless of what China says. Taiwans biggest mistake is not changing the written language but staying with Chinese letters. They should imo move to English language fully and abandon Chinese.

Korea did exactly that, changed the whole written language so they wouldn't be using the chinese characters and such (as I recall). Can you imagine the claim China would put on Korea if they had stayed with chinese characters and such. And they're not seperated by waters.

Taiwanese, Mandarin, and Taiwan's language situation

pinyin.info

 

[Blackbeardsgoldfish]

The water is a natural barrier regardless of what China says. Taiwans biggest mistake is not changing the written language but staying with Chinese letters. They should imo move to English language fully and abandon Chinese.

The ROC still claims the rest of China though, Korea never claimed the entirety of Mainland China. If they abandon chinese as their language, then they'd abandon their claims on the mainland, and in this sense, give the CCP an even better casus belli. They'd be seen as an occupying force on chinese territory that doesn't even speak chinese any longer.

Little sidenote, my compilation on European energy is now on the german economy thread, so that you know.

 

[Saithan]

The ROC still claims the rest of China though, Korea never claimed the entirety of Mainland China. If they abandon chinese as their language, then they'd abandon their claims on the mainland, and in this sense, give the CCP an even better casus belli. They'd be seen as an occupying force on chinese territory that doesn't even speak chinese any longer.

I think it's important to point out that a Government doesn't need to do things officially to weed out a language.

Implementation of other languages as official language, language courses and slowly changing educational books to be more and later on solely in one language... are steps that can be taken.

Look at how Sovjet did their best to weed out turkic culture from the blacksea region. And how Putin is doing it now on Crim.

I think small nations need to think of their survival and need to really create a change that enhances their sovereignity. First step for these small countries like Taiwan is introducing more national languages and working towards making that language the primary language spoken.

 

[Blackbeardsgoldfish]

I think it's important to point out that a Government doesn't need to do things officially to weed out a language.

Implementation of other languages as official language, language courses and slowly changing educational books to be more and later on solely in one language... are steps that can be taken.

Look at how Sovjet did their best to weed out turkic culture from the blacksea region. And how Putin is doing it now on Crim.

I think small nations need to think of their survival and need to really create a change that enhances their sovereignity. First step for these small countries like Taiwan is introducing more national languages and working towards making that language the primary language spoken.

Taiwan was previously inhabited by the Austronesian peoples, the Han chinese there now are occupiers on their own, doesn't matter if it's Quing, ROC or PRC. Austronesian is a minority language that's nearly been eradicated.
The problem with Taiwan and changing their culture from being chinese to being, well taiwanese I guess, is that they still claim the rest of China, the same way the PRC claims Taiwan. This would be a foreign power claiming China as their own, and that's hardly acceptable for the CCP or any government really. It's always harder to justify a war against your own people, but this would give the CCP an easier playing field.

Another factor is the demographics of a nation, in this case Taiwan. If you have a nation of many young people, you can teach them to think and speak a different language easily. But Taiwan's getting old, they're expected to peak in by the end of this decade and the median age is 42 years old, that's too old to build a new cultural identity around.

 

[Ryder]

Taiwan was previously inhabited by the Austronesian peoples, the Han chinese there now are occupiers on their own, doesn't matter if it's Quing, ROC or PRC. Austronesian is a minority language that's nearly been eradicated.
The problem with Taiwan and changing their culture from being chinese to being, well taiwanese I guess, is that they still claim the rest of China, the same way the PRC claims Taiwan. This would be a foreign power claiming China as their own, and that's hardly acceptable for the CCP or any government really. It's always harder to justify a war against your own people, but this would give the CCP an easier playing field.

Another factor is the demographics of a nation, in this case Taiwan. If you have a nation of many young people, you can teach them to think and speak a different language easily. But Taiwan's getting old, they're expected to peak in by the end of this decade and the median age is 42 years old, that's too old to build a new cultural identity around.

Chinese and the Taiwanese are the same people aka Han Chinese their whole war is a civil war between both that has not ended.

Taiwanese identity cant be separated because the Taiwanese themselves are not natives but descended from Chinese who settled and colonise the area as Taiwan was ruled by as you said Native Austronesians. Taiwan was a highly contested place between the Chinese, Dutch, Spanish and the Portuguese.

 

[Blackbeardsgoldfish]

Chinese and the Taiwanese are the same people aka Han Chinese their whole war is a civil war between both that has not ended.

That's the thing, both sides claim the territory of the other.

Taiwanese identity cant be separated because the Taiwanese themselves are not natives but descended from Chinese who settled and colonise the area as Taiwan was ruled by as you said Native Austronesians. Taiwan was a highly contested place between the Chinese, Dutch, Spanish and the Portuguese.

It's the birthplace of the Austronesian culture, which is one of the world's most extraordinary ones to boot. The japanese saw it as one of their most strategically important possessions in the 50 odd years they had, and it has a long history of occupation.

 

[Saithan]

At the end of the day it's not realistic to claim that RoC is laying claim to PRC. That's how I read your post anyway. Maybe it's mistunderstanding.

Looking at size and all that it would be better for RoC to keep Taiwan as the official name and work toward the goals I mentioned earlier. One way or another. Look at how Russia used the language as an excuse to invade Ukraine claiming all russian speakers were russians.

 

[Blackbeardsgoldfish]

At the end of the day it's not realistic to claim that RoC is laying claim to PRC. That's how I read your post anyway. Maybe it's mistunderstanding.

Looking at size and all that it would be better for RoC to keep Taiwan as the official name and work toward the goals I mentioned earlier. One way or another. Look at how Russia used the language as an excuse to invade Ukraine claiming all russian speakers were russians.

This would probably be one of the ways Taiwan can survive. For this decade at least, though I doubt that they will.

 

[Saithan]

This would probably be one of the ways Taiwan can survive. For this decade at least, though I doubt that they will.

yes, but then you get nuclear power plants, and nuclear missiles and other stuff, and you'll have a deterrent that isn't easily dismissed. And while the threatening language never disappears until PRC implodes you'll have defacto a nation pretty much guarenteed their freedom. Ukraine gave up their nukes because of empty promises.