TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday (March 10) that the war in Ukraine is a case study demonstrating why Taiwan needs to be "as prickly as possible" with asymmetric weaponry to fight off China if it chose to invade.
At a hearing of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that day, committee Chairman Bob Menendez asked Assistant Secretary of State Jessica Lewis and Assistant Secretary of Defense Mara Karlin to confirm if the U.S. believes that Taiwan should be focused on acquiring more asymmetric military capabilities.
Lewis concurred that Ukraine has demonstrated the need to focus on asymmetric warfare, which she defined as "cost-effective, mobile, resilient, and decentralized offensive systems." She said that these have been used to "great effect in Ukraine" and specifically listed short-range air defense systems, naval sea mines, coastal defense, and cruise missiles.
She added that "reserve reform" is important because, as can be seen in Ukraine, "the population has to be ready to fight." Lewis pointed out that Taiwan has taken steps to strengthen its reserves with the creation of the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency in coordination with the U.S. National Guard.
Menendez asked the two if the U.S. has a shared understanding of what asymmetric warfare entails. Lewis responded by saying the country is currently working with Taiwan on asymmetric strategies and that "we have a much deeper understanding of that right now."
The chairman asked Karlin when the last time the U.S. and Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense had undertaken a joint assessment of Taiwan's needs. Karlin said that she could not provide an exact date but emphasized that there are "very regular consultations" to ensure Taiwan is tailoring its defense to deal with the "threat that we all see."
Echoing Lewis' comments about lessons learned from Ukraine, Karlin said, "I think the situation we’re seeing in Ukraine right now is a very worthwhile case study for them about why Taiwan needs to do all it can to build asymmetric capabilities, to get its population ready, so that it can be ready as prickly as possible should China choose to violate its sovereignty."
