French TV network airs film on China's 'unprecedented invasion threat'

Paris, March 10 (CNA) A French national television network aired a documentary on Sunday highlighting China's expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea and how Taiwan and the Philippines are responding to the "unprecedented" threat.

The 80-minute documentary titled "Red Alert in the South China Sea" (Alerte rouge en mer de Chine) on M6, a privately-owned French TV channel, said that "the threat of invasion is unprecedented" and Taiwan has entered "a long-term state of alert, with people actively preparing for a potential attack."

It also said that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese people oppose unification with Beijing, and that "independence" is the consensus view.

The documentary presented the view that Beijing's desire to annex Taiwan is driven by history and "nationalism" as well as the geopolitical goal of securing unimpeded access to the Pacific Ocean.

The filmmakers interviewed several Taiwanese figures, including Major General Tung Chi-hsing (董冀星), director of the joint operations planning division of Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, who said that China's threat to Taiwan is "increasing."

The documentary showed satellite images of to-scale imitations of Taiwan's Presidential Office building and surrounding streets that the Chinese government has built in Inner Mongolia, apparently to train ground forces for a potential decapitation strike against Taiwan's democratically-elected leadership.

Alexander Huang (黃介正), director of the Kuomintang's (KMT) international affairs department, was also quoted in the film as saying that the KMT tries to maintain communication with Beijing since Taiwan is "not ready for war."

Taiwan needs to buy time to reform the military, acquire new weaponry and conduct training, the opposition party figure said.