The Daily-Ish Update

Coverage: last 24 hours

China has completed the first major phase of land reclamation at Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands. New commercial satellite imagery shows a reclaimed feature stretching nearly six kilometers, with dredging vessels and barges that had been working there for at least six months now largely departed. The new island includes a roughly 680-meter wharf facing a deepwater harbor, where a China Coast Guard vessel has been observed alongside. Construction has begun on the southeastern portion of the feature, including what appears to be a helicopter landing area and excavation along a straight section of coastline more than three kilometers long that could accommodate an airfield. Antelope Reef lies southwest of Woody Island, China’s principal military base in the Paracels.

Sources: (Reuters)

Taiwan’s government proposed a record NT$1.12 trillion defense budget for 2027, an increase of approximately 18 percent and the first annual defense allocation above NT$1 trillion. The proposed spending would exceed 3 percent of GDP and includes funding for missiles and unmanned systems that had previously encountered resistance in the legislature, as well as continued spending on Taiwan’s indigenous submarine program. The total also includes Coast Guard expenditures because of the service’s wartime auxiliary role. The proposal must still pass the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan.

Sources: (Reuters)

A new Council on Foreign Relations study argues that the United States has approximately two years to substantially expand its munitions inventories and capacity for mass production of lower-cost autonomous systems before its ability to deter China deteriorates further. The report, Out of Ammo: A Two-Year Sprint to Rebuild the American Arsenal and Deter China, concludes that existing inventories and production capacity are insufficient for a major conflict with China, particularly a Taiwan invasion or blockade. It calls for rapidly fielding large numbers of comparatively inexpensive drones, sensors and other expendable systems while continuing production of submarines, combat aircraft and high-end precision weapons. The study also assesses that recent U.S. combat operations in the Middle East have further depleted stocks of air-defense interceptors and precision-guided munitions.

Sources: (Council on Foreign Relations)

Beijing publicly praised Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his recent comments on Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry said on August 19 that it “commends” Anwar’s position after he said Taiwan was part of China and compared Beijing’s opposition to Taiwanese independence with a government preventing one of its own provinces from seceding. Anwar had also said China retained the right to use force if peaceful unification failed. Taiwan’s government had rejected the comments earlier in the week. Beijing used the episode to reiterate that it considers the Taiwan question an internal Chinese matter and that countries recognizing Beijing should oppose Taiwanese independence.

Sources: (China Embassy in Estonia)

China demanded that the United States withdraw new Section 232 tariffs on Chinese drones and drone components. China’s Ministry of Commerce said August 20 that the measures were discriminatory and damaged the interests of Chinese companies. Washington imposed the new duties the previous week following a Section 232 investigation into unmanned aircraft systems and related components; the measures allow tariffs of up to 100 percent on designated drone-related imports as the United States seeks to reduce dependence on foreign, particularly Chinese, unmanned-aircraft supply chains.

Sources: (Reuters)

Tropical Storm Saudel formed in the western Pacific and is forecast to strengthen substantially while tracking toward the waters south of Japan. The system developed from Tropical Depression 20 and was moving north to north-northwest after forming near Micronesia. Japanese and Taiwanese forecasts place its projected track toward the Ogasawara and then Okinawa/Amami regions, with forecasts indicating it could become a very strong typhoon as it moves northwest. Current projections keep the storm east of Taiwan but bring it into the broader Ryukyu operating area later in the forecast period.

Sources: (Taiwan News)

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan Economics Committee failed to reach a cross-party compromise on legislation establishing a multiyear program for large-scale procurement of unmanned systems, sending competing versions of the bill to the full legislature. The Executive Yuan proposal would authorize up to NT$210 billion through 2031 for systems including coastal-surveillance drones, coastal-attack drones and small one-way-attack unmanned surface vessels. Opposition proposals would instead rely more heavily on annual appropriations and broaden the eligible categories to aerial, surface, underwater and ground systems performing surveillance, strike, logistics, communications relay, electronic warfare, decoy and mine-warfare missions. One opposition proposal would permit as much as NT$40 billion annually for six years.

Sources: (taipeitimes.com)

This update was generated using artificial intelligence, which can make mistakes.

The use of a source in this update does not reflect endorsement of that source’s position or credibility, only its part in the ongoing national security discussion