CB120513: Critical Node: Taiwan’s Cyber Defense and Chinese Cyber-Espionage

Cyberspace is emerging as a contentious frontier in cross-Strait relations. Overt military tension in the Taiwan Strait has ostensibly given way to a cold war in the cyber-domain. A surge in China-sponsored cyber intrusions was highlighted recently by Taiwan’s intelligence chief, Tsai Der-sheng. In remarks made during a public hearing held in late March at […]

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CB 122011: DPP’s Cross-Strait Policy Consistent with “Status Quo”

With Taiwan’s 2012 presidential and legislative elections less than one month away and public opinion polls showing the two presidential hopefuls, President Ma Ying-jeou and Chairwoman Tsai Ing-yen, in a dead heat, Washington and Beijing have been preparing for the possibility of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) returning to power. The possibility of a DPP […]

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CB 033012: Taiwan Navy Sailing Ahead with Indigenous Submarine Program

The Republic of China (ROC) Navy appears to be moving forward with a long awaited program to build diesel submarines in Taiwan. A domestic submarine program—which was aborted under former President Chen Shui-bian’s administration—reportedly has been resuscitated in President Ma Ying-jeou’s second term. While talk of an indigenous submarine program is nothing new, interest in […]

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CB 030610: Strategic Implications of China’s Access to the Rajin Port

At the recently concluded National People’s Congress (NPC) [2010], Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Deputy Secretary-General of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, Li Longxi, announced that North Korean authorities are currently studying a proposal to grant a 10 year extension to China’s lease of Rajin Port, which is located strategically on the border […]

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CB 092410: Advances in China’s UCAV Program

The acquisition of advanced foreign technologies coupled with sustained high rates of investment in its defense industries has helped accelerate the pace and scope of China’s military modernization in recent years. One military platform that apparently benefited from this substantial investment, which has the potential to alter the future battlefield, is China’s unmanned combat aerial […]

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CB 032511: Taiwan’s Intelligence Chief Warns about the PLA’s Growing Strategic Weapon Systems

The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) arsenal of strategic weapons systems is growing in spite of the cross-Strait détente. According to Tsai Der-Sheng, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) director-general, China has deployed a ‘new’ type of missile that will increase the PLA’s capability in terms of range and accuracy to attack hardened targets like airfields and command […]

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