China has several times conducted war exercises surrounding Taiwan. (File)
China will not need to attack Taiwan to include it in its country. It can easily isolate Taiwan from the rest of the world and harm its economy. Through this, it will force Taiwan to accept defeat. CNN has shared this report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank.
The report says that to capture Taiwan, China can either declare war or impose a military blockade on Taiwan. But apart from these two options, China has a third option of ‘quarantine’, that is, cutting off Taiwan from the whole world.
America will not be able to help if Taiwan is quarantined.
For this, China can use the ‘grey zone’ strategy. China’s coastguard can surround Taiwan’s maritime border and isolate it from the world. For this, they can stop the world from using Taiwan’s ports. Actually, quarantine is a legal action, under which sea and air traffic is stopped for some time.
If China imposes a quarantine in Taiwan, even the US will not be able to help it. If the US goes against China’s decision and sends its aircraft and military ships to Taiwan, it will be seen as an attack.
China’s coastguard has 150 ships. Apart from this, their navy also has 400 small vessels. China’s naval fleet is the largest in the world. Taiwan, on the other hand, has 10 ships and 160 small vessels. In such a situation, Taiwan will not be able to stop China’s quarantine.
China can stop the supply of electricity and essential goods.
Apart from this, China can stop the supply of electricity and other essential goods for 2.3 crore people of Taiwan. About a month ago, in the Shangri La Dialogue held in Singapore, China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun warned that whoever supports the independence of Taiwan will destroy himself. China will take every necessary step to stop the fight for independence there.
According to the report, China can also control Taiwan’s airspace through its aircraft. Chinese ships and fighter jets often enter Taiwan’s airspace. Just two days ago on Friday, 36 Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone.
China can impose custom charges on ships coming to Taiwan.
In such a situation, it will not be difficult for China to impose quarantine in the air border as well. At the same time, China can stop ships of other countries from coming to China even without using the word ‘quarantine’. Actually, China calls Taiwan its territory. Many big countries of the world support the One China Policy. America is also included in these.
In such a situation, China will have to impose custom tax on ships coming to Taiwan. Any country that wants to stop at Taiwan’s port will have to pay this tax. After the custom charge is issued, many ships will have to change their route.
According to CSIS, by controlling Taiwan’s air and sea borders, China can also curb the foreign aid it receives. This will have a direct impact on Taiwan’s economy. After facing economic hardships for a long time, Taiwan may surrender to China. After this, China can easily demand complete control over Taiwan in exchange for lifting the quarantine.
