By @KathrinHille: "After #Beijing intensified its intimidation of Taiwan with unprecedented military exercises last month, the 75-year-old Tsao pledged a $100mn donation to strengthen the country’s defences, ...ft.com/content/e72d62…
... switched his citizenship back to Taiwan from Singapore and vowed to fight for his land until his death."
“What I want to do is ensure quickly, within two or three years, that nobody is afraid, and that we are all ready to resist,” Tsao said in an interview with the Financial Times.
"He argued Taiwan could survive even extended bombing and missile strikes as long as it kept Chinese soldiers off its territory."
“You have to train everyone to be mentally very strong. Look at the German bombing raids on British cities in the second world war — morale remained high.”
"Tsao has earmarked the first $30mn of his pledge for training hundreds of thousands of civilian fighters. The tycoon also wants to finance the development of military-use drones."
He said he was in talks with Taiwanese drone makers to form an industry alliance for quickly producing 1mn attack drones at low cost. “If the Chinese Communists want to bring their troops ashore and a fleet of ships comes over the Strait, we can assault them,” he said.
But he rejects the argument that such efforts might be too little, too late. “Although it is very urgent, we still have a little time,” Tsao said. “It is like global warming. You have to remain optimistic.”
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