Holding the Door Open

I have no doubt that the Chinese will use aircraft and their older subs to lay mines off of Taiwan's eastern ports should it come to war.

Ideally, Taiwan can clear those mines so that supplies--civilian and military--can flow into Taiwan even before we can choose to intervene.

So this is a good sign:

Taiwan plans to build six minesweepers as part of efforts to boost its defence capabilities, despite improving ties with China, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

The six minesweepers, along with two US-built Osprey-class minesweepers Washington agreed to sell Taipei earlier this year, will be used to replace the island’s ageing minesweeping fleet, legislator Lin Yu-fang said.

In the long run, Taiwan needs to be able to build more of the weapons they need to defend themselves.