‘Taiwan’s Security: History and Prospects’ looks at how Taiwanese land, air and sea defenses and offensive strategies stack up against the competition

In Taiwan’s Security: History and Prospects, US Navy veteran Bernard Cole (unrelated to this reviewer) offers an unusually in-depth assessment of the many facets of Taiwan’s defense establishment. While many publications have approached the subject from a quantitative perspective - how many tanks, aircraft, missiles and men Beijing would be capable of deploying against Taiwan in a symmetrical warfare scenario - Cole’s book bores deep into Taiwanese society and highlights a series of social and institutional factors that would influence the outcome of a war with China.

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Book Description
When Chiang Kai-shek fled from mainland China, his military was in disarray. Today, it appears to be a modern, well-equipped and well-trained force. But how capable is it? This book offers the first in-depth explanation and evaluation of Taiwan’s defense forces and infrastructure. The author not only examines in detail each of Taiwan’s military services, with descriptions of their organization, equipment, and personnel but also assesses the defense infrastructure as a whole with a focus on the ongoing attempt to civilianize that organization.

As the Taiwan Strait remains the focus of international tension between China and the United States this volume provides essential base-data and evaluation of the one of the major participants in this crisis and in this concluding part offers a comparative framework of Taiwan versus PRC militaries, with analysis of likely future developments between the two states, based on that comparison.

This book will be essential reading for students of Asian security, Asian politics, International Relations and Security Studies as well as to analysts and policy-makers.

About the Author
Bernard Cole served thirty years in the U.S. Navy and is a widely-published authority on the Chinese and Taiwan militaries. He has travelled widely in China and Taiwan, including many visits to warships, air force squadrons, and army units.

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