Taiwan may be outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched by its enemy, but it will not sit idly by as its government comes under attack by hackers seeking to take control of vital systems. And so now, the ability to defend itself against these attacks is no longer an option—it is a necessity. With the help of advanced technologies and its own military hardware, China has been able to successfully launch large-scale cyberattacks against Taiwan's computer networks for decades. But the ultimate deterrent to a Chinese invasion is China's mightiest asset—its cyberattack abilities. China is fielding every weapon in the PLA's arsenal to strike down Taiwan—the hypersonic DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missile, the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, the JH-7 long range strike bomber, advanced JF-17 fighter jets. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is now deploying modern military hardware and technology to defeat Taiwan and its allies up close and personal. However, with a legacy of democracy on its side, Taiwan has proven the Western world wrong time and again by standing up for its independence and sovereignty since Chinese communists took control of it. A small island nation with a population of less than half a million, Taiwan has been occupied by China since 1949 and is firmly under Beijing's thumb. If China were to successfully establish a foothold there, say in Taiwan or the Senkaku Islands, it would constitute a serious threat to peace and stability all across the region.Īnd so we come to an area of conflict: Taiwan. With this transformation, though, now comes an even greater risk: a Chinese invasion of the Asian Pacific region. Unwilling to accept such a breakdown of traditional order and consequent loss of influence abroad, China has turned its eyes to its own backyard: East Asia.
Once the most powerful nation in world history, China now lags behind Western powers across all fields—economically, militarily, and technologically.