Taiwan has voted in a new President, Lai Ching-te, who now faces the daunting challenge of reforming Taiwan’s defenses against the threat of invasion by China.
In this special report, DW’s Richard Walker finds out what incoming President Lai Ching-te needs to do to get Taiwan ready – in the face of repeated threats from China’s Xi Jinping.
In Part 1 we hear from the former head of Taiwan’s military, Lee Hsi-min, who says Taiwanese politicians have spent too much money on prestigious weapons that would be little use in an invasion scenario. Instead he says Taipei needs to go all-in on an “asymmetric” strategy, learning in part from Ukraine’s experience. But as we discover, there are political hurdles to making that happen. And we hear from an influential US foreign policy analyst who served in the Trump administration – how a President Trump 2.0 might view Taiwan’s situation.
Part 2 explores whether Taiwan can reach out to China to reduce tensions – given that a majority of Taiwanese voted for candidates who sought a reset with China. A Chinese expert gives us Beijing’s view on the prospects. And we analyze whether there is any chance of Xi Jinping rethinking his threats.
Part 3 exposes major wildcards which could scramble Taiwan’s calculations – from a narrowly divided parliament that could be open to Chinese interference, to the vortex of US politics which is already shaping Ukraine’s chances of survival.
Including contributions from Admiral Lee Hsi-min, former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, Amanda Hsiao, Sung Wen-Ti, Elbridge Colby and Hsieh Pei-fen.

Full interview with former President Ma Ying-jeou:    • We 'can never win' a war: Taiwan's fo...  


CHAPTERS

0:00 Taiwan’s new president
4:47 Part 1: Ready to fight?
6:44 Asymmetric warfare
10:20 Can Taiwan count on America?
11:45 “Vaguely suicidal behavior”
15:04 Opposition views
16:10 Part 2: Ready to talk?
18:03 Conditions for dialog
20:30 China’s view of Taiwan
24:15 China’s threat of force
26:25 Part 3: Wildcards
29:19 Chinese political influence
31:28 Taiwan vs Ukraine?

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