TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The US’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019 could allow it to help defend Taiwan by developing new missile systems.
Former US President Donald Trump abandoned the 1987 treaty due to claims Russia had violated its terms and because China was growing its arsenal of long-range missiles, NYT reported. The decision came as US Marine Corps officials began considering replacing artillery and tanks with mobile missile launchers, which could be positioned to strike Chinese military ships in the case of a Taiwan Strait conflict.
The US military selected the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) as the perfect projectile for its new Typhon missile launcher. With a warhead smaller than the one carried by the UK’s Neptune missile, the SM-6 “could evade a Chinese warship’s defenses” and hinder a successful invasion of Taiwan, NYT said. Therefore, it would also prevent Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) from maintaining control of the Chinese Communist Party.
The US could also fire longer-range Tomahawks along with Typhon systems from small islands in the Philippines “within a thousand miles of the Chinese mainland,” which could eliminate most of China’s missiles that threaten American naval ships sent to defend Taiwan, per NYT.
Tags: withdrawal Cold Warera treaty Taiwans defense Taiwan News
