Hau on China missile deployment against Taiwan

Former premier Hau Pei-tsun said in a interview that China's deployment of missiles targeting Taiwan is "not a smart move." He suggested that it could only give advocates of Taiwan's independence movement another reason to support their cause. The former four-star general explained that "there is no need to use missiles if China really wants to attack Taiwan, and it can always deploy them as soon as they are called for."

Based on these remarks, it is pretty clear that Hau appears more concerned with the unification process across the Taiwan Strait and less so with what really happens to Taiwan. He pointed out that China still has the ability to deploy its missiles efficiently even if they were not readily deployed. Clearly, the only reason he believes that the deployment of these missiles is "not a smart move" is the fact that it may spur the development of the already significant independence movement in Taiwan, which goes against his party's ideology.

Furthermore, Hau's understanding of the international political climate seems extremely limited. "If these missiles are targeting the United States, it would mean a political statement intended for the United States. As such, it is another matter," he said. It appears that he obviously does not understand that the fact that these missiles are targeting Taiwan is an equally strong political statement intended for the US. Relations between China and Taiwan are not exactly bilateral. Arguably, the "Taiwan problem" is still an issue internationally because of America's involvement in cross-Strait interactions. Hau's lack of understanding and his sinocentric ideology seem to represent the ideals of KMT and the Ma administration in the past few years.