DEFENSE/Taiwan has 'absolute air superiority' over China: Deputy defense chief

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Taiwan has "absolute air superiority" over China in its own airspace, Taiwan's deputy defense chief said Monday amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing.

Though Taiwan's military often asserts its ability to defend the country, it is unusual for it to declare "air superiority" as did Deputy Defense Minister Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in response to a question from ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) at a legislative hearing.

Chiu questioned if Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were found entering Taiwan's airspace.

Po, himself a retired pilot, said Taiwan's military has "absolute air superiority" over PLA warplanes because "enemy aircraft will be exposed to Taiwan's air defense system and be within our firepower range."

Chiu also asked Po if Taiwan's armed forces were capable of countering the numerical advantage the PLA has in terms of fighter aircraft.

Maintaining high-quality military aircraft was more important than quantity, Po said, adding that the Air Force has also trained its pilots in different tactics to counter a potential Chinese invasion.

Though Po said publicly at the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee hearing that Taiwan had air superiority in its airspace, a previously leaked Pentagon document questioned such an assertion.

According to classified Pentagon documents made public by the Washington Post in April 2023, Taiwan's military leaders doubt their air defenses can "accurately detect missile launches" and that only about half of the island's aircraft are capable of effectively engaging the enemy.

The documents also said Taiwan feared that moving its aircraft to shelters could take up to a week, leaving them vulnerable to missile strikes, and that China's use of civilian ships for military purposes was hampering U.S. intelligence's ability to predict an invasion.

Pentagon analysts concluded China's air force would find it far easier to establish early air superiority than Russia did in its invasion of Ukraine.

The documents were part of a series of documents allegedly leaked by U.S. air national guardsman Jack Teixeira.

At the time, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense issued a statement in which it described the leaked documents as full of "fictitious content."

It also gave its more usual assurance that it was continuing to beef up Taiwan's air defense capabilities and closely monitoring the PLA's movements to counter Beijing's military threats.