Analysis: China's New Defense Minister

Defense expert Lin Ying-yu talks with TaiwanPlus about the new head of China's military, navy commander Dong Jun.

Transcript

00:00 Why did China pick Dong Jun, a Navy officer, to be its defense minister?

00:06 Dong Jun has served in three warships in the past,

00:08 including the North Sea, the East Sea, and the South Sea.

00:11 Especially in the southern war zone,

00:12 he may have participated in the war zone conversations with the United States.

00:17 We should also note that he has participated in

00:20 a maritime alliance exercise with Russia in 2015,

00:24 and also participated in a maritime exercise with Pakistan in 2020.

00:31 This means that he has a lot of experience in foreign affairs and military exchanges.

00:37 Will this have any effect on US-China efforts to restart military-to-military communications?

00:44 Dong Jun has had a chance to meet with the US,

00:50 but we must remember that

00:52 Dong Jun's position today is not able to command the Liberation Army.

00:57 This means that his position is completely different from Austin's.

01:02 So even if the US-China dialogue is restored today,

01:07 I personally think that it is a question mark

01:13 whether it can effectively restore bilateral military communication and exchanges.

01:15 What significance does Dong's appointment have for Taiwan?

01:19 For Taiwan, after all, China's defense minister today

01:23 is just a window for military diplomacy.

01:26 He will not actually command the war.

01:28 As for whether he will change to the navy for Taiwan,

01:31 I personally think that this assumption is too biased.

01:35 Therefore, whether Dong's replacement will directly cause immediate security and impact on Taiwan,

01:40 I personally think this is not a big opportunity.

01:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]