Taiwan will discuss opening a direct sea link with China to cut the cost and time of shipping across the Taiwan Strait, a newspaper said on Thursday. The move comes after the decision to open a direct air link with China earlier this month.
Chiang Ping-kun, Taiwan's top negotiator with China, was quoted in The Commercial Times as saying the establishment of a direct sea link will be among the issues discussed in the second round of Taipei- Beijing talks to be held in autumn in Taipei.
Five thousand cargo ships per year cross the strait, stopping in Okinawa formally on the journey. With about 14 ships per day on that route, the PLA could jam quite a few light infantry battalions into the ships that could be the initial wave of an invasion disembarking in Taiwanese ports coupled with similar forces coming in as tourists on new air flights.
This initial wave of forces carried on civilian ships and planes directed at Taiwanese ports and airports would be followed up with conventional airborne assaults and an amphibious assault aimed at the ports using converted obsolete warships, civilian ships, amphibious warfare ships, and other unconventional assets to reinforce and exploit the surprise seizure of the initial bridgeheads and airheads.
Of course, the timing of the planned links for the autumn may mean that the Olympics will go ahead as planned. So perhaps it will instead be an October surprise after all, this fall.
