As everyone knows, the biggest patron of "Taiwan independence" on the island is the United States. In the past 20 years, the strength of the PLA has increased rapidly, and the gap in military strength between the two sides of the strait has become very obvious. However, instead of relenting, the Taiwan independence elements have intensified their efforts to sabotage cross-strait relations, and an important psychological expectation of theirs is that the US Navy will come to the aid at a crucial moment.
But it is well known that Americans simply cannot risk it for their sake. However, those "Taiwan independence" elements still have some use value, so the United States will also give them a few bones from time to time to appease them, of which the sale of arms to Taiwan is one of the most commonly used means by the United States.
According to Taiwan media reports, the US State Department announced on February 7 local time that it approved the sale of the "Patriot" missile system engineering service plan worth $100 million to Taiwan. This is the second arms sales to Taiwan since the Biden administration took office, and it is also another gross interference in China's internal affairs after the United States called for the United States to change the name of Taipei's us office in the United States a few days ago.
The Taiwan issue is the core interest of the mainland and the biggest "time bomb" between China and the United States. In the course of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, three joint communiques were issued, which have now become the basic documents of Sino-US relations. The document reaffirms that Taiwan Province is an inseparable part of the mainland, and that in the past few decades, Washington has indeed adhered to the "one-China principle" at the official level, but in private there have been many small moves, such as arms sales to Taiwan and stirring up cross-strait relations.
Among the weapons currently sold by the United States to the Taiwan military, the most famous are the F-16 fighter jet and the Patriot anti-aircraft missile. On August 4, 2021, the Biden administration took office for its first arms sale to Taiwan, which consisted of 40 sets of medium-sized self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth $750 million. For the "independence seekers," these weapons are meant to embolden themselves.
As far as the United States is concerned, in addition to making money on arms sales to Taiwan, it can also deepen the dependence of the Taiwan authorities on themselves. With these arms sales, their chess pieces will be more comfortable to use. But can these weapons really come in handy? The F-16 fighter jet in the hands of the Taiwan military was purchased in 1992, and the Patriot missile was purchased in Taiwan in 1996.
When the Plakmen was not strong enough more than 20 years ago, these weapons may still be able to play a role. But now that time has passed, these star-level weapons in the early years are now completely out of hand. Taking the Current Patriot missile sales as an example, the content of the arms sales is to maintain and improve the Patriot missiles. To put it bluntly, the Patriot missile fell into disrepair, and the United States helped Taiwan's defense department to repair the seams for a few more years.
In addition, the F-16 fighter has the same problem. This light fighter is no longer comparable to the mainland's J-10C, J-16, J-20 and other fighters, so the DPP authorities have always wanted to buy a brand-new F-16V fighter from the United States. However, according to Taiwan media's own revelations, the 66 F-16V fighters ordered by the Taiwan military from the United States in 2019 have not yet been delivered, and the United States does not intend to provide air-fired ammunition.
In other words, what the United States sells to the Taiwan military is nothing more than a sample of goods. In fact, this is not the first time they have been "pitted" by the United States, in addition to the F-16, another relatively advanced fighter of the Taiwan military is the Mirage 2000 from France. But ironically, these Phantom 2000s had been unilaterally "castrated" by France before entering The Ground Attack Capability. The F-16 has no air combat capability, the Mirage 2000 has no ground attack capability, and the Taiwan military can be said to have achieved the ultimate.
The reason why they are facing this phenomenon is very simple, that is, everyone knows that sooner or later they will have to reunify with the mainland, and under such circumstances, the United States, France, and other countries that sell weapons to the Taiwan military naturally do not dare to move the truth, and can only try to get money from the Taiwan military. All countries that have developed improper relations with Taiwan regard the former as a tool for making money that can be discarded at will, but what is ridiculous is that those "Taiwan independence" elements are still on the island dreaming of their own Spring and Autumn.
The three types of weapons, F-16 fighter jets, Patriot missiles, and self-propelled howitzers, are like life-saving straws for those "Taiwan independence" who live on the island and talk about themselves. But people with a little military common sense know that once the two sides of the strait go to war, these weapons may not necessarily be able to block the first wave of attacks from the mainland.
At present, the People's Liberation Army already has a series of large-scale weapons such as the J-20, and various forms of missiles are an unstoppable force. The F-16 in the hands of the Taiwan military is more likely to be directly destroyed on the ground; as for the Patriot missile, its interception success rate has always been a metaphysical problem, and it is simply whimsical to use this thing to ensure the safety of Taiwan's military facilities.
The United States is actually very clear about this. However, their insistence on arms sales to Taiwan is not really to help the Taiwan military, after all, the current military strength of the latter, even if they double these weapons, they cannot be opponents of the Platon Army. Therefore, arms sales to Taiwan are nothing more than a political means of the United States, and they not only hope to test the bottom line of the Chinese mainland, but also want to seize the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the people on the island.
However, what we must know is that cross-strait reunification has always been only a matter of time, and no matter what kind of careful thinking and small means, it is empty talk in the face of strength. The goal of the Platon's Liberation Army is to eliminate those US Navy that interfere in the process of China's reunification, and as for those "Taiwan independence" who sit in the well and watch the sky, when the US military holds its head and scurrys around, they will be scattered in the sand, and all the weapons in the hands of the Taiwan military will also become flower racks.