MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone (File Photo)
By Li Yue
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations have brought great impacts on combat effectiveness, with their importance increasingly raised in the military sphere. According to the news recently quoted by the UK newspaper Financial Times from insiders, the US has decided to deliver four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones to Taiwan in 2025 and integrate them into the system that U.S. forces in the region and the Japanese Self-Defense Force will use when the three parties will share the real-time data of reconnaissance drones. This news immediately aroused wide concern from the public after being disclosed. Some analysts believe that the US arms sale of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones to Taiwan and sharing of real-time data with itself and Japan seriously violates the one-China principle and will evidently further escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
俄乌冲突爆发以来，无人机的使用对作战结果产生了很大影响，由此也让人们越来越重视使用无人机进行作战。近日英国《金融时报》援引“知情人士”的消息称，美国决定要在2025年向台军交付4架MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机，并将其整合到美军和日本自卫队使用的“共同作战图像”系统中，届时三方将共享侦察无人机的实时数据。这个消息一经披露立即引起舆论的广泛关注。有分析认为，美国对台军售MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机，并与美日共享实时数据，严重违反一个中国原则，势必进一步加剧台海紧张局势。
Military commentator and Professor Jin Yinan pointed out that, the four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones that the Washington planned to sell to Taiwan are very different from some operational and tactical types employed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These models are not low-altitude drones targeted for attacking fixed ground targets, but high-altitude drones that can undertake a non-stop flight of 50 hours in the air, featuring a wide reconnaissance range and real-time intelligence gathering capabilities. In practical use, the drones can better evade ground fire attacks and complete strategic intelligence collection, reconnaissance, transfer, storage and sharing tasks.
军事评论员金一南指出，此次美国准备卖给台湾的4架MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机，与俄乌冲突中的一些战役战术无人机有很大不同，它不是用于攻击地面固定目标的低空无人机，而是能够在空中持续飞行50小时的高空无人机，具备宽广的侦察范围和实时情报收集能力。在实际使用中，这型无人机能够较好地躲避地面火力攻击，完成对战略情报的搜集、侦察、转运、储存和共通共享。
It is particularly worth noting that the Washington will not only sell MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones to Taiwan but also integrate them into its joint combat image system with the Japanese Self-Defense Force. This is a very serious matter. The US envisions that the MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones can enable aerial signal relay even if the ground radar systems on the island are damaged in case of "warfare" in the Taiwan Strait. Meanwhile, the signals collected by the triple parties could also be shared through the drones to form joint combat images eventually, which will certainly have a major impact on the future so-called Taiwan Strait conflicts.
尤其值得人们注意的是，美国不仅对台出售MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机，还要将其整合到美军和日本自卫队使用的“共同作战图像”系统中，这是一个很严重的事情。在美国的设想中，未来台海如果发生“战事”，即便台湾地面的雷达被摧毁，仍然可以通过MQ-9B“海上卫士”无人机完成空中信号的中继。同时，美国、日本和台湾地区三方搜集的信号，还能通过这型无人机实现信息共享，最终形成“共同作战图像”，这必将对未来所谓的台海冲突产生重大影响。
In recent years, Japan has been itching to stir up the Taiwan question, hyping up the so-called "China threat" theory, frequently and wantonly distorting right and wrong. Some Japanese politicians even brazenly clamored that “Any contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan”. At the previous G7 summit, the country deliberately bloated the Taiwan Strait topic in an attempt to contain the development of China by provoking disputes. Japan even intensified these moves recently by frequently championing the US, participating in a number of large-scale US-led military exercises and demonstrating its presence around the Taiwan Island. Some remarks pointed out that Japan, as a defeated country in WWII, hasn't deeply reflected on its past aggressive villainies but vainly attempts to revive militarism, which makes distinct its wild ambition to meddle in other countries' internal affairs and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Professor Jin analyzed that the US and Japan speculate that China will sooner or later resolve the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification, in view of the increasing military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait. Believing that the unification of China has a significant impact on its interests, Japan cherishes an even more desperate hope than the US that China remains divided for long. This deserves vigilance from the international community.
近些年来，日本在台湾问题上可谓是蠢蠢欲动，经常渲染所谓的“中国威胁论”，肆意颠倒黑白，一些日本政客甚至公然叫嚣所谓“台湾有事就是日本有事”。在此前召开的七国峰会上，日本刻意炒作台海话题，企图挑动纷争遏制我国发展。近期更是变本加厉，频繁为美国站台，参加美国主导的多项大型军演，在台岛周边“刷存在感”。有评论指出，作为二战战败国的日本，非但不深刻反省其侵略历史，如今还妄图复活军国主义，想要插手别国内政、介入台海局势的狼子野心昭然若揭。金教授分析，当前，美国和日本看到台海两岸的军力逐渐失衡，他们猜测中国迟早要解决台湾问题，实现国家统一。日本认为中国的统一对其利益有着重大影响，所以特别希望中国长期处于分裂状态，它的这种心理甚至比美国更迫切。这一点非常值得我们警惕。
In addition, it was reported by the Taiwan media that Chairman of the Taiwan People's Party Ko Wen-je has repeatedly triggered disputes in the island by making inappropriate remarks. Ko publicly proclaimed that he will prioritize the development of cyber forces to paralyze the mainland's high-speed railway, ATM and other systems if he wins the election. Some netizens commented that Ko was making crazy and nonsense talks while others condemned that his extreme remarks run the risk of "triggering a war". Jin proposed that Ko's remarks are very dangerous. Considering the fragility of global civilian systems, the consequences are unimaginable once attacks against these targets are launched. Taiwan's assumptive attacks against civilian facilities on the Chinese mainland were tantamount to a declaration of war, which would incur countermeasures from the Chinese government definitely. Therefore, Mr. Ko and those like-minded must be warned that they will surely be hoisted by their own petard if they dare to do so, and all the consequences will be first borne by those blusterers.
另据台湾媒体报道，台湾民众党主席柯文哲近来屡屡发表不当言论，在岛内引发争议。柯文哲此前公开宣称，如果自己当选，将优先发展网军，并瘫痪大陆的高铁、ATM（取款机）等系统。有网友评论说，柯文哲口出狂言、胡说八道，还有网友指责柯文哲言论偏激，有“引战”风险。金一南指出，柯文哲这种言论是非常危险的！因为全世界的民用系统都是十分脆弱的，针对民用系统的攻击一旦展开，后果不堪设想。如果台湾地区对大陆的民用设施发起攻击，就等同于宣战，我们必然会采取措施进行反制。所以，我们今天必须对柯文哲以及有类似想法的人提出警告，如果他们胆敢这么做，一定会自食恶果，而且所有的后果将首先由说出这种话的人来承担。
Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
