Taiwan monitoring ‘abnormal’ China military leadership changes after top general put under investigation
TAIPEI, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Monday that Taiwan was monitoring what he called “abnormal” changes in China’s military leadership after its most senior general was placed under investigation and would use a variety of methods to unravel Beijing’s intentions.
China announced on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, President Xi Jinping’s second-in-command as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, another senior officer, were under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.
“We will continue to closely monitor abnormal changes at the top levels of China’s party, government and military leadership. The military’s stance is based on the fact that China has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan,” Koo told reporters in parliament.
Zhang has long been considered Xi’s closest military ally and is one of the few senior Chinese officers with combat experience who served in the 1979 border conflict with Vietnam.
China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory, is sending warplanes and warships into the skies and waters around the island almost daily in what Taipei sees as a campaign of harassment to get the government to accept Beijing’s claims to sovereignty.
Koo said what the ministry was looking at was not “a single leadership change that would be enough to draw conclusions.”
Taiwan will use a range of joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods, as well as intelligence sharing, to “grasp” China’s possible intentions, the official added.
“What we want is a comprehensive understanding of all military and non-military indicators that reflect China’s intentions and actions, followed by an integrated overall assessment,” Koo said, without elaborating.
China has never shied away from using force to control Taiwan and held its latest war games around the island late last month. Taiwan’s government says only the islanders can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
