WAR CHINA THREATENS TO INVADE TAIWAN
- Thread starter danielboon
- Start date
jward
passin' thru
Roy
@GrandpaRoy2
4h
Taiwan has developed a family of drones intended to strike PLA boats and amphibious armored vehicles in coastal waters.
Seen are a plywood fixed-wing strike UAV, a fiber-optic FPV, and a multirotor bomber.
View: https://twitter.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/1956441548117475694
@GrandpaRoy2
4h
Taiwan has developed a family of drones intended to strike PLA boats and amphibious armored vehicles in coastal waters.
Seen are a plywood fixed-wing strike UAV, a fiber-optic FPV, and a multirotor bomber.
View: https://twitter.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/1956441548117475694
jward
passin' thru
Something To Keep in Mind: China Can’t Invade Taiwan Yet
Let’s not get too gloomy. Despite their extensive modernisation, the Chinese armed forces still don’t have the capabilities needed for amphibious assault of Taiwan, particularly in the context of potential U.S. intervention and Taiwan’s progressive adoption of asymmetric defence.
Numerous credible evaluations find that China lacks the requisite logistics, leadership and experience to conduct a comprehensive amphibious invasion across the Taiwan Strait. And Taiwan is adopting at least some elements of a porcupine strategy, one using numerous small weapons that China would have trouble in countering.
A Pentagon assessment in December 2024 revealed that extensive corruption within the Chinese military was compromising its ability to be ready to invade Taiwan in 2027—readiness that U.S. officials say President Xi Jinping has demanded. In December 2024, open-intelligence service Janes assessed that the chance of China initiating a full-scale invasion in the next six to 12 months was just 5 percent. Janes expected that China’s military operations in 2024 would be mainly confined to intimidation and coercion rather than preparations for an offensive.
A survey in 2024 conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that only 27 percent of U.S. experts and just 17 percent of Taiwanese experts believed that China had the capabilities to execute an amphibious assault on Taiwan. Another survey, by National Defense University in 2022, underscored that, though the Chinese armed forces had achieved impressive modernisation, they particularly lacked logistics integration and joint-force training needed for an invasion.
The impressive expansion in Chinese naval shipbuilding and the induction of advanced amphibious equipment, such as landing barges, are aimed at closing capability gaps. But analysts still see performance of the landing as extremely difficult, in part due to Taiwan’s geography.
The island’s western shores, where landings might occur, are exposed to defensive fire and surveillance and are approached by shallow water. The strait, at least 130 km wide, is often rough.
Taiwan defence preparations have visibly intensified. In a recent military drill in July, which engaged 22,000 reserve personnel-among the largest such mobilisations, Taiwan showcased newly acquired U.S.-supplied Abrams M1A2T tanks and Himars rocket launcher vehicles, alongside cyber-defence simulations. This reflects not just routine equipment renewal but a deliberate move toward multi-domain preparedness.
We see some elements of a porcupine strategy in Taiwan. Examples are accelerated acquisition of sea mines and ground-launched anti-ship missiles, and arrangements for decentralised command.
But Taiwan also persists with high-value equipment, such as upgraded F-16s and large warships. While Taiwan’s armed forces are evidently evolving towards a porcupine strategy, they are still far from fully committed to one.
If invasion is impossible, Beijing has the alternatives of trying to force capitulation by blockading the island, bombarding it from the air or doing both. But these tactics would bring risk of international escalation. Prolongation of such tactics would likely invite an international response, especially from the United States.
While Taiwan’s chipmaking industry is the main feature of the island’s silicon shield—the industry whose global importance deters China from attacking. Chinese seizure of Taiwan would not guarantee control over these capabilities, and their destruction would trigger massive economic fallout.
The status quo continues to receive quiet but firm international backing. The U.S. maintains unofficial but deep economic and military ties with Taiwan though the Taiwan Relations Act. Arms shipments have recently increased, and the U.S.
Congress has intensified support, mitigating concerns about President Donald Trump’s possibly transactional approach to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s friends must take notice of China’s goals, ambitions and increasing militarisation, but we must not overplay the threat.
Sriparna Pathak is a professor of China studies at O P Jindal Global University. She also serves in the capacity of the associate director of the Jindal India Institute. Gaurav Sen is a senior research fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University and the author of "Peril of the Pacific: Military balance and Battle for Taiwan."
This article appeared originally at The Strategist (ASPI).
https://www.realcleardefense.com/ar...ind_china_cant_invade_taiwan_yet_1127972.html
Posted for fair use.......
www.americanthinker.com
August 17, 2025
Xi Jinping became the top dog in China in 2012, serving as both general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and, by 2013, as China’s president. Under his aegis, China has expanded its reach enormously.
The Belt and Road project, which has seen China take over seaports, airports, and other infrastructure across the world, started under his aegis. Xi was also responsible for hugely expanding the development of artificial islands in the South China Sea, which China used to claim more of that waterway for its own and to serve as military bases. Military spending has also escalated in a straight upward line under Xi’s premiership, according to information gleaned from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US DOD, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Xi has made China, the single largest country in the world by population, a much more threatening institution.
However, there’s always been more than a whiff of Potemkin Village about China. It’s long-standing, although now-discarded, one-child policy has left it with a serious sex imbalance. While the natural sex ratio at birth is 105 boys for every 100 girls, in China, at the peak of the policy, some provinces were reporting 125 boys to 100 girls. The numbers have leveled out a bit, but they’re still distorted, at about 111 boys to 100 girls. A society with a huge number of surplus men is dangerous because men, untempered by morality and justice, are dangerous.
China’s managed economy has also had problems. Last October, I wrote,
"The biggest hint that the Chinese economy was in trouble was the demise of Evergrande, a massive property developer in China. The bankruptcy was huge, with the company’s assets valued at a probably inflated $245 billion and debts of $300 billion. However, Evergrande was just the biggest pop in the Chinese real estate bubble, not the only one.
Across the board, Chinese ventures have been having problems, whether with overvalued assets, the Belt and Road initiative (which was fading even before Israel blew up the Belt and Road port in Yemen), or its demographic implosion, which will leave it as a nation of old men."
The military is also somewhat illusory. In May or June, a nuclear submarine sank in a Chinese shipyard—although, to be fair, we had a disastrous Navy ship fire a few years back, and a New Zealand ship just ran aground and caught fire. These things do happen.
Generally, though, the Chinese military has a competency problem with both men and equipment.
Although China kept producing goods in the first half of 2025, the number of people buying those goods decreased. In addition, companies are laying off employees. In 2024, the biggest solar companies in China laid off almost one-third of their workers. Generally, China is grappling with unemployment and under-employment, which are exceptionally sensitive issues for a country in which the government manages the economy.
While China is still a force to be reckoned with and should never be discounted, all is not well in the world’s largest communist nation. Rod D. Martin, an entrepreneur and anti-communist who is aligned with the Peter Thiel branch of the tech world, thinks that Xi Jinping is facing the end of the line—and that the incoming powers may be less interested in world conquest and more interested in shoring up China’s domestic situation:
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956501158689694146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956501405591539921%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956501674501058698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956501862225531133%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956502703158313337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956502961619673405%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956503395160019199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956503636202467373%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956503800761426032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956503800761426032%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
I don’t know if Martin is right, but I’d like to think he is. That’s partly because his analysis tracks my own take on the situation and partly because it would be a good thing if Chinese, with its more than a billion people and its massive nuclear and biochemical stockpile (you’re lying to yourself if you think it doesn’t have biochemical weapons), were less focused on ruling the world and more focused on making life better for its citizens.
Oh, and if anyone can be the straw that breaks Xi’s back and causes China to retreat and retrench, that person is Donald Trump. We dodged a huge Chinese bullet when Kamala lost.
View & Add Comments (4)
Is change coming to China?
Xi Jinping became the top dog in China in 2012, serving as both general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and, by 2013, as China’s president. Under his aegis, China has expanded its reach ...
August 17, 2025
Is change coming to China?
By Andrea WidburgXi Jinping became the top dog in China in 2012, serving as both general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and, by 2013, as China’s president. Under his aegis, China has expanded its reach enormously.
The Belt and Road project, which has seen China take over seaports, airports, and other infrastructure across the world, started under his aegis. Xi was also responsible for hugely expanding the development of artificial islands in the South China Sea, which China used to claim more of that waterway for its own and to serve as military bases. Military spending has also escalated in a straight upward line under Xi’s premiership, according to information gleaned from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US DOD, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Xi has made China, the single largest country in the world by population, a much more threatening institution.
However, there’s always been more than a whiff of Potemkin Village about China. It’s long-standing, although now-discarded, one-child policy has left it with a serious sex imbalance. While the natural sex ratio at birth is 105 boys for every 100 girls, in China, at the peak of the policy, some provinces were reporting 125 boys to 100 girls. The numbers have leveled out a bit, but they’re still distorted, at about 111 boys to 100 girls. A society with a huge number of surplus men is dangerous because men, untempered by morality and justice, are dangerous.
China’s managed economy has also had problems. Last October, I wrote,
"The biggest hint that the Chinese economy was in trouble was the demise of Evergrande, a massive property developer in China. The bankruptcy was huge, with the company’s assets valued at a probably inflated $245 billion and debts of $300 billion. However, Evergrande was just the biggest pop in the Chinese real estate bubble, not the only one.
Across the board, Chinese ventures have been having problems, whether with overvalued assets, the Belt and Road initiative (which was fading even before Israel blew up the Belt and Road port in Yemen), or its demographic implosion, which will leave it as a nation of old men."
The military is also somewhat illusory. In May or June, a nuclear submarine sank in a Chinese shipyard—although, to be fair, we had a disastrous Navy ship fire a few years back, and a New Zealand ship just ran aground and caught fire. These things do happen.
Generally, though, the Chinese military has a competency problem with both men and equipment.
Although China kept producing goods in the first half of 2025, the number of people buying those goods decreased. In addition, companies are laying off employees. In 2024, the biggest solar companies in China laid off almost one-third of their workers. Generally, China is grappling with unemployment and under-employment, which are exceptionally sensitive issues for a country in which the government manages the economy.
While China is still a force to be reckoned with and should never be discounted, all is not well in the world’s largest communist nation. Rod D. Martin, an entrepreneur and anti-communist who is aligned with the Peter Thiel branch of the tech world, thinks that Xi Jinping is facing the end of the line—and that the incoming powers may be less interested in world conquest and more interested in shoring up China’s domestic situation:
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956501158689694146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956501405591539921%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956501674501058698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956501862225531133%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956502703158313337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956502961619673405%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956503395160019199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956503636202467373%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
View: https://twitter.com/RodDMartin/status/1956503800761426032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1956503800761426032%7Ctwgr%5E20137b3243fcb951e5a36b8f7947c8bbd2064a95%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanthinker.com%2Fblog%2F2025%2F08%2Fis_change_coming_to_china.html
I don’t know if Martin is right, but I’d like to think he is. That’s partly because his analysis tracks my own take on the situation and partly because it would be a good thing if Chinese, with its more than a billion people and its massive nuclear and biochemical stockpile (you’re lying to yourself if you think it doesn’t have biochemical weapons), were less focused on ruling the world and more focused on making life better for its citizens.
Oh, and if anyone can be the straw that breaks Xi’s back and causes China to retreat and retrench, that person is Donald Trump. We dodged a huge Chinese bullet when Kamala lost.
View & Add Comments (4)
Posted for fair use.....
September 5, 2025
China’s increasingly powerful military has bracketed Taiwan with exercises. Its air and naval forces launch daily incursions, and Beijing has erased the unofficial maritime border between them. Yet, many Americans are baffled by a Taiwanese public that is seemingly oblivious, resigned, or apathetic to these threats.
Taiwan’s former cultural minister lamented the absence of a “will to fight” crucial to the island’s defense. Current Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has criticized Taiwan for “showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.” Why should the United States defend Taiwan if Taiwan won’t defend itself?
But a closer look shows that the real problem is political polarization, not will to fight.
More Resolve Than You Think
Multiple overlapping indicators demonstrate that a majority — if not a supermajority — of Taiwanese are motivated to defend their country, eager for organization and leadership, and are deeply interested in civil defense training opportunities.
Surveys consistently find that over two-thirds of Taiwanese are willing to fight and defend their country if China invades. Support for conscription is higher in Taiwan than it is in South Korea, even among conscription-age cohorts.
Beyond polls, civil defense training from groups like Kuma Academy and Forward Alliance are fully booked months in advance. Medical doctors have lined up around the block to participate in classes on trauma medicine and treating gunshot wounds, incidents that are extremely rare in Taiwan, but may be common during a crisis.
This seriousness of purpose is reflected in defense policy as well. Although there is still much work to do, Taiwan has increased its military budget by over 10 percent in the past two years, and 76.8 percent since 2016. Defense spending comprised 15 percent of the central government budget in 2024 and 22 percent in 2025 — both a larger proportion than in the United States. Taiwan is expanding its indigenous defense industry, which produces more anti-ship missiles than the United States annually. The Taiwanese government also announced that defense spending will reach 3.32 percent of GDP in 2026, with three percent acting as a floor going forward.
Moreover, this amount does not include spending on “whole of society resilience” — formally coordinated civilian, military, and government preparation for invasion. What many in the United States see as Taiwanese apathy or resignation is, in fact, a lack of direction, leadership, and organization. But this is a monumental task: The United States has not had a coordinated, nationwide civil defense exercise since the end of the Cold War. Civil defense planning in the United States is fragmented across private, local, state, and federal government actors. Current U.S. efforts do not prepare the American public for protracted war or threats to the homeland. Without knowing about and consistently practicing a coherent response plan to a distant but pressing threat, many people might simply go about their lives.
Whole of society resilience provides that response plan, preparing the Taiwanese to organize and outlast a possible Chinese invasion or blockade. The Lai government has increased the realism and comprehensiveness of the annual Han Kuang exercise. It doubled the exercise’s length, simulated a greater range of urban combat scenarios, ran it unscripted, and involved significantly more reserve forces. It added civil defense and infrastructure protection components, including evacuation drills and transporting troops and equipment through the Taipei subway.
The exercise was widely publicized in the news and on social media, including videos produced by Taiwan’s Military News Agency with English subtitles. This drew significant local and international media attention to the exercise, carrying additional benefits. The more Taiwan demonstrates its defensive capabilities and preparations, the more willing Washington is to support it. The more Taiwanese engage in civil defense preparations, the more social pressure fence sitters face, prompting them to participate as well.
The Politics of Paralysis
The real obstacle is political polarization. This stems from a weakness in Taiwan’s political institutions, despite their overall strength. Shielded within local strongholds, parties can appeal to narrow constituencies and ignore broader public opinion. From that platform, politicians have fueled skepticism of U.S. support and lobbed accusations of warmongering against civil defense efforts.
Taiwan’s opposition parties have attacked the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s attempts at defense reform. The Kuomintang has accused President Lai Ching-te of provoking war for personal political gain. In 2024, the Ministry of Education issued a controversial “Youth Service Consent Form” that appeared to be mobilizing high school students for civil defense, causing panic among parents. Though the form was discontinued almost immediately, opposition party members denounced Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party for preparing to send children to die on the battlefield.
Opposition legislators criticized this year’s Han Kuang exercise — which featured a significant civil defense component — as the government attempting to manufacture public fear of impending national destruction. They also proposed amendments to the Civil Defense Act and National Mobilization Act in 2024. These would have prevented civilians from supporting defensive military operations.
A recent RAND report found that political polarization within Taiwan weakens the effectiveness of whole-of-society mobilization. Without cross-party support for civil defense, mobilization planning, resilience-related efforts, and public engagement programs faces significant headwinds. Because opposition parties hold a majority of county and city leadership positions, local-level engagement on whole of society resilience has been fitful. Some politicians have accused a civil defense group of profiting off of cross-Strait tensions and promised investigations.
America Can Help
America’s role is not limited to supplying arms. Washington also has unique leverage to strengthen Taiwan’s civil defense, where even modest U.S. statements, cooperative efforts, and policy shifts can yield outsized effects.
Most importantly, the U.S. government can publicly laud societal resilience efforts. This will cut through Taiwanese polarization, providing political encouragement for cities and counties to join the central government’s preparations. This is a rare instance where public diplomacy on its own can decisively clear partisan obstacles to serious defense efforts.
The Trump administration’s stance towards Taiwan hasn’t been made clear yet. The White House imposed 20 percent tariffs on Taiwanese exports, putting them at a five percentage-point disadvantage to their Japanese and South Korean competitors. Over the summer, the Trump administration also instructed the Lai government to cancel planned stopovers in New York City and Dallas as it sought to keep trade talks and a possible fall summit with Beijing on track.
Civil defense ultimately benefits U.S. interests. The more cohesive and organized Taiwan’s society is, the more effectively it can move and resupply forces at beachheads — bleeding or even defeating invading Chinese military units. The more it stockpiles food, water, and energy, the longer its population can survive a blockade. The longer Taiwan holds out, the more decision-making space that opens for Washington, Tokyo, and others to respond.
In an ideal world, Taiwan would face a trade-off between the marginal benefits of increased societal resilience versus further weapons acquisition. But Taiwan is still awaiting the delivery of the $21.54 billion backlog of U.S.-built weapons that it paid for, but that U.S. defense manufacturers are struggling to produce. Even if that equipment appeared in armories tomorrow, developing and training effective concepts of operations can take months.
Civil defense enhancements can more immediately contribute to Taiwan’s overarching security, with less strain on U.S. production capacity or budgets. U.S. federal and state agencies could share lessons learned in protecting critical infrastructure, maintaining government functions during disasters, and establishing secure communications. During an invasion, destruction of communication networks would cut off civil defense actors from the central government. U.S. military, political, and business leaders could provide training in crisis decision-making to lower-echelon Taiwanese governmental, civil society, and military leaders.
Washington could also facilitate Taiwanese engagement with other countries, who are themselves innovating on civil defense. Finland’s National Defense Training Association, for example, standardizes instruction across civil defense organizations, tracks training by individual, and conducts readiness assessments. The association also serves as the liaison between member groups and the national government. Similarly, Estonia’s Cyber Defence League could serve as a model for cybersecurity cooperation between the government, nonprofits, and private enterprises. Singapore’s Volunteer Corps opens civil defense opportunities to women, as well as structuring medical and cybersecurity training that go beyond the standard conscription.
Although it has a long way to go, Taiwan is making enormous strides in preparing its government, society, and military to face China’s multidimensional challenges. Washington has a critical opportunity to cut through polarization and bolster defense efforts beyond the military to the whole of Taiwanese society.
BECOME A MEMBER
Raymond Kuo is director of RAND’s Taiwan Policy Initiative and a senior political scientist at RAND.
Catherine Kish is a research assistant at RAND.
Taiwan’s Will to Fight Isn’t the Problem
China’s increasingly powerful military has bracketed Taiwan with exercises. Its air and naval forces launch daily incursions, and Beijing has erased the
warontherocks.com
Taiwan’s Will to Fight Isn’t the Problem
Raymond Kuo and Catherine KishSeptember 5, 2025
China’s increasingly powerful military has bracketed Taiwan with exercises. Its air and naval forces launch daily incursions, and Beijing has erased the unofficial maritime border between them. Yet, many Americans are baffled by a Taiwanese public that is seemingly oblivious, resigned, or apathetic to these threats.
Taiwan’s former cultural minister lamented the absence of a “will to fight” crucial to the island’s defense. Current Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has criticized Taiwan for “showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.” Why should the United States defend Taiwan if Taiwan won’t defend itself?
But a closer look shows that the real problem is political polarization, not will to fight.
More Resolve Than You Think
Multiple overlapping indicators demonstrate that a majority — if not a supermajority — of Taiwanese are motivated to defend their country, eager for organization and leadership, and are deeply interested in civil defense training opportunities.
Surveys consistently find that over two-thirds of Taiwanese are willing to fight and defend their country if China invades. Support for conscription is higher in Taiwan than it is in South Korea, even among conscription-age cohorts.
Beyond polls, civil defense training from groups like Kuma Academy and Forward Alliance are fully booked months in advance. Medical doctors have lined up around the block to participate in classes on trauma medicine and treating gunshot wounds, incidents that are extremely rare in Taiwan, but may be common during a crisis.
This seriousness of purpose is reflected in defense policy as well. Although there is still much work to do, Taiwan has increased its military budget by over 10 percent in the past two years, and 76.8 percent since 2016. Defense spending comprised 15 percent of the central government budget in 2024 and 22 percent in 2025 — both a larger proportion than in the United States. Taiwan is expanding its indigenous defense industry, which produces more anti-ship missiles than the United States annually. The Taiwanese government also announced that defense spending will reach 3.32 percent of GDP in 2026, with three percent acting as a floor going forward.
Moreover, this amount does not include spending on “whole of society resilience” — formally coordinated civilian, military, and government preparation for invasion. What many in the United States see as Taiwanese apathy or resignation is, in fact, a lack of direction, leadership, and organization. But this is a monumental task: The United States has not had a coordinated, nationwide civil defense exercise since the end of the Cold War. Civil defense planning in the United States is fragmented across private, local, state, and federal government actors. Current U.S. efforts do not prepare the American public for protracted war or threats to the homeland. Without knowing about and consistently practicing a coherent response plan to a distant but pressing threat, many people might simply go about their lives.
Whole of society resilience provides that response plan, preparing the Taiwanese to organize and outlast a possible Chinese invasion or blockade. The Lai government has increased the realism and comprehensiveness of the annual Han Kuang exercise. It doubled the exercise’s length, simulated a greater range of urban combat scenarios, ran it unscripted, and involved significantly more reserve forces. It added civil defense and infrastructure protection components, including evacuation drills and transporting troops and equipment through the Taipei subway.
The exercise was widely publicized in the news and on social media, including videos produced by Taiwan’s Military News Agency with English subtitles. This drew significant local and international media attention to the exercise, carrying additional benefits. The more Taiwan demonstrates its defensive capabilities and preparations, the more willing Washington is to support it. The more Taiwanese engage in civil defense preparations, the more social pressure fence sitters face, prompting them to participate as well.
The Politics of Paralysis
The real obstacle is political polarization. This stems from a weakness in Taiwan’s political institutions, despite their overall strength. Shielded within local strongholds, parties can appeal to narrow constituencies and ignore broader public opinion. From that platform, politicians have fueled skepticism of U.S. support and lobbed accusations of warmongering against civil defense efforts.
Taiwan’s opposition parties have attacked the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s attempts at defense reform. The Kuomintang has accused President Lai Ching-te of provoking war for personal political gain. In 2024, the Ministry of Education issued a controversial “Youth Service Consent Form” that appeared to be mobilizing high school students for civil defense, causing panic among parents. Though the form was discontinued almost immediately, opposition party members denounced Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party for preparing to send children to die on the battlefield.
Opposition legislators criticized this year’s Han Kuang exercise — which featured a significant civil defense component — as the government attempting to manufacture public fear of impending national destruction. They also proposed amendments to the Civil Defense Act and National Mobilization Act in 2024. These would have prevented civilians from supporting defensive military operations.
A recent RAND report found that political polarization within Taiwan weakens the effectiveness of whole-of-society mobilization. Without cross-party support for civil defense, mobilization planning, resilience-related efforts, and public engagement programs faces significant headwinds. Because opposition parties hold a majority of county and city leadership positions, local-level engagement on whole of society resilience has been fitful. Some politicians have accused a civil defense group of profiting off of cross-Strait tensions and promised investigations.
America Can Help
America’s role is not limited to supplying arms. Washington also has unique leverage to strengthen Taiwan’s civil defense, where even modest U.S. statements, cooperative efforts, and policy shifts can yield outsized effects.
Most importantly, the U.S. government can publicly laud societal resilience efforts. This will cut through Taiwanese polarization, providing political encouragement for cities and counties to join the central government’s preparations. This is a rare instance where public diplomacy on its own can decisively clear partisan obstacles to serious defense efforts.
The Trump administration’s stance towards Taiwan hasn’t been made clear yet. The White House imposed 20 percent tariffs on Taiwanese exports, putting them at a five percentage-point disadvantage to their Japanese and South Korean competitors. Over the summer, the Trump administration also instructed the Lai government to cancel planned stopovers in New York City and Dallas as it sought to keep trade talks and a possible fall summit with Beijing on track.
Civil defense ultimately benefits U.S. interests. The more cohesive and organized Taiwan’s society is, the more effectively it can move and resupply forces at beachheads — bleeding or even defeating invading Chinese military units. The more it stockpiles food, water, and energy, the longer its population can survive a blockade. The longer Taiwan holds out, the more decision-making space that opens for Washington, Tokyo, and others to respond.
In an ideal world, Taiwan would face a trade-off between the marginal benefits of increased societal resilience versus further weapons acquisition. But Taiwan is still awaiting the delivery of the $21.54 billion backlog of U.S.-built weapons that it paid for, but that U.S. defense manufacturers are struggling to produce. Even if that equipment appeared in armories tomorrow, developing and training effective concepts of operations can take months.
Civil defense enhancements can more immediately contribute to Taiwan’s overarching security, with less strain on U.S. production capacity or budgets. U.S. federal and state agencies could share lessons learned in protecting critical infrastructure, maintaining government functions during disasters, and establishing secure communications. During an invasion, destruction of communication networks would cut off civil defense actors from the central government. U.S. military, political, and business leaders could provide training in crisis decision-making to lower-echelon Taiwanese governmental, civil society, and military leaders.
Washington could also facilitate Taiwanese engagement with other countries, who are themselves innovating on civil defense. Finland’s National Defense Training Association, for example, standardizes instruction across civil defense organizations, tracks training by individual, and conducts readiness assessments. The association also serves as the liaison between member groups and the national government. Similarly, Estonia’s Cyber Defence League could serve as a model for cybersecurity cooperation between the government, nonprofits, and private enterprises. Singapore’s Volunteer Corps opens civil defense opportunities to women, as well as structuring medical and cybersecurity training that go beyond the standard conscription.
Although it has a long way to go, Taiwan is making enormous strides in preparing its government, society, and military to face China’s multidimensional challenges. Washington has a critical opportunity to cut through polarization and bolster defense efforts beyond the military to the whole of Taiwanese society.
BECOME A MEMBER
Raymond Kuo is director of RAND’s Taiwan Policy Initiative and a senior political scientist at RAND.
Catherine Kish is a research assistant at RAND.
Posted for fair use......
www.dw.com
Freedom of SpeechChina
09/05/2025 September 5, 2025
As Beijing showcased China's military might, a bold act of dissent in Chongqing lit up the night, revealing deep divides behind China's patriotic display.
After China held a massive military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, with troops marching in tight formations and state-of-the-art missiles on display, a single act of defiance around 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) away began to capture global attention.
On August 29, just days before the big parade, a slideshow of giant anti-communist slogans lit up the night, projected on the exterior wall of a high-rise building in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.
"Down with the Red Fascists! Overthrow communist tyranny!" one slogan read, while another declared: "Arise, you who refuse to be slaves!"
By the time police broke into the room housing the projector, Qi Hong, the activist behind the carefully planned action, had long fled — leaving behind only a handwritten letter urging people "not to aid a tyrant."
"I've become especially repulsed by the government's use of state machinery to incite hatred," Qi told DW after arriving in London with his wife and daughters, citing the parade as the final straw that motivated him to stage the projection.
02:11
Such acts of dissent are rare in China, where public criticism of the Communist Party can lead to police harassment, persecution, or imprisonment.
On Weibo, one of the country's largest social media platforms, there is no information about Qi's protest. For days, posts praising the parade dominated top searches, followed by news of a man's arrest on September 4 for critical online comments on the event.
A flood of analyst and media assessments have focused on Beijing's display of modernized weaponry and technological progress.
China's state-run English-language newspaper China Daily reported that the parade "received high praise from world leaders," with its live broadcast keeping Chinese people "riveted to their mobile phones and television sets."
In his letter, Qi Hong called on people to 'wake up and understand the truth, the truth is the truth'Image: privat
Wu Qiang, an independent academic and political commentator in China, described the overall atmosphere to DW as "a mix of attention, excitement, and frustration at voices that challenged [the parade]."
In other words, Wu added, public attitudes toward the military parade were "highly divided."
"While many were genuinely excited, some stayed silent, and others voiced skepticism," he said, adding that the phenomenon was evident on WeChat, China's dominant messaging app.
According to Chinese media reports, a man in his 40s was placed in police custody on Thursday after criticizing the live broadcast of China's military parade on WeChat and insulting users expressing patriotic views.
In the run-up to the parade in Beijing, Chinese authorities shut down parts of the capital with strict security measures. Local shops and subway stations near the parade route were not allowed to open, and residents needed to keep their windows closed.
Wu told DW that during the parade, the empty streets under tight control and "carefully choreographed cheering crowds" gathering in Tiananmen Square also spoke volumes about the contrast in public sentiment.
In his view, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constantly emphasizes atrocities committed during World War II by the Japanese empire's military regime — which killed millions of people across the Asia-Pacific — yet fails to reflect on the tragedies it caused at home, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Qi Hong displays the anti-communist slogans and the equipment he used to project them onto a buildingImage: privat
In July, weeks before the August 31 military parade, Qi started planning his protest. He surveyed locations and practiced laser projection with harmless phrases. He then left China and switched on the projector remotely.
Qi said he drew his inspiration from previous activism, including the 2022 Sitong Bridge incident in Beijing's Haidian district, during which a banner was unfurled brandishing the words "We need food, not COVID tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns," in reference to China's strict zero-COVID policy.
"We want dignity, not lies. We need reform, no cultural revolution," the white banner continued in red letters. "We want to vote, not a leader. Don't be slaves, be citizens." Censors quickly removed references to the protest on social media.
In 2023, before a series of political meetings began, a lone protester named Chai Song also projected defiant slogans on a building in Shandong province.
Leading up to the event, several photos circulated on X among Chinese dissident communities, showing anti-communist slogans such as "Step down, dictator" handwritten on the doors of public toilets in Beijing.
DW, however, was not able to independently verify the authenticity of these photos.
Following Qi's public protest, the police detained one of his brothers and a friend and interrogated his elderly mother outside her home in China. The Chongqing police had not answered DW's request for comment by the time of publication.
On social media, many have hailed Qi as a "warrior." But when speaking with DW in London, he simply shook his head: "I'm just an ordinary person. I simply couldn't take it anymore — someone had to do something."
As a practicing Buddhist, Qi told DW: "I often talk to my children about karma… Sow the seeds of hatred, and you will reap the fruits of hatred."
"I don't want them to keep living in this kind of society," he said, "It's like you're living in a cesspit, yet you are forced to say, 'It smells good.'"
DW correspondent Hao Yu contributed reporting
Edited by: Keith Walker
Yuchen Li East Asia correspondent covering China and Taiwan
Send us your feedback
Dissent simmers in China despite Xi flaunting military might – DW – 09/05/2025
As Beijing showcased China's military might, a bold act of dissent in Chongqing lit up the night, revealing deep divides behind China's patriotic display.
www.dw.com
Freedom of SpeechChina
Dissent simmers in China despite Xi flaunting military might
Yuchen Li in Taipei09/05/2025 September 5, 2025
As Beijing showcased China's military might, a bold act of dissent in Chongqing lit up the night, revealing deep divides behind China's patriotic display.
After China held a massive military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, with troops marching in tight formations and state-of-the-art missiles on display, a single act of defiance around 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) away began to capture global attention.
On August 29, just days before the big parade, a slideshow of giant anti-communist slogans lit up the night, projected on the exterior wall of a high-rise building in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.
"Down with the Red Fascists! Overthrow communist tyranny!" one slogan read, while another declared: "Arise, you who refuse to be slaves!"
By the time police broke into the room housing the projector, Qi Hong, the activist behind the carefully planned action, had long fled — leaving behind only a handwritten letter urging people "not to aid a tyrant."
"I've become especially repulsed by the government's use of state machinery to incite hatred," Qi told DW after arriving in London with his wife and daughters, citing the parade as the final straw that motivated him to stage the projection.
Chinese, Russian and North Korean leaders meet in Beijing
02:11
Such acts of dissent are rare in China, where public criticism of the Communist Party can lead to police harassment, persecution, or imprisonment.
On Weibo, one of the country's largest social media platforms, there is no information about Qi's protest. For days, posts praising the parade dominated top searches, followed by news of a man's arrest on September 4 for critical online comments on the event.
Public enthusiasm and silenced skepticism
Wednesday's parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, drew significant global attention with the historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.A flood of analyst and media assessments have focused on Beijing's display of modernized weaponry and technological progress.
China's state-run English-language newspaper China Daily reported that the parade "received high praise from world leaders," with its live broadcast keeping Chinese people "riveted to their mobile phones and television sets."
In his letter, Qi Hong called on people to 'wake up and understand the truth, the truth is the truth'Image: privat
Wu Qiang, an independent academic and political commentator in China, described the overall atmosphere to DW as "a mix of attention, excitement, and frustration at voices that challenged [the parade]."
In other words, Wu added, public attitudes toward the military parade were "highly divided."
"While many were genuinely excited, some stayed silent, and others voiced skepticism," he said, adding that the phenomenon was evident on WeChat, China's dominant messaging app.
According to Chinese media reports, a man in his 40s was placed in police custody on Thursday after criticizing the live broadcast of China's military parade on WeChat and insulting users expressing patriotic views.
In the run-up to the parade in Beijing, Chinese authorities shut down parts of the capital with strict security measures. Local shops and subway stations near the parade route were not allowed to open, and residents needed to keep their windows closed.
Wu told DW that during the parade, the empty streets under tight control and "carefully choreographed cheering crowds" gathering in Tiananmen Square also spoke volumes about the contrast in public sentiment.
The rare, bold act of dissent amid the parade
Qi, the activist staging the projection protest, rejects what he called "hate propaganda."In his view, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constantly emphasizes atrocities committed during World War II by the Japanese empire's military regime — which killed millions of people across the Asia-Pacific — yet fails to reflect on the tragedies it caused at home, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Qi Hong displays the anti-communist slogans and the equipment he used to project them onto a buildingImage: privat
In July, weeks before the August 31 military parade, Qi started planning his protest. He surveyed locations and practiced laser projection with harmless phrases. He then left China and switched on the projector remotely.
Qi said he drew his inspiration from previous activism, including the 2022 Sitong Bridge incident in Beijing's Haidian district, during which a banner was unfurled brandishing the words "We need food, not COVID tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns," in reference to China's strict zero-COVID policy.
"We want dignity, not lies. We need reform, no cultural revolution," the white banner continued in red letters. "We want to vote, not a leader. Don't be slaves, be citizens." Censors quickly removed references to the protest on social media.
In 2023, before a series of political meetings began, a lone protester named Chai Song also projected defiant slogans on a building in Shandong province.
'I simply couldn't take it anymore': Chinese activist
Such planned actions have become more common in China, as dissidents are looking for ways to express their disapproval of the government while avoiding the country's sweeping surveillance system.Leading up to the event, several photos circulated on X among Chinese dissident communities, showing anti-communist slogans such as "Step down, dictator" handwritten on the doors of public toilets in Beijing.
DW, however, was not able to independently verify the authenticity of these photos.
Following Qi's public protest, the police detained one of his brothers and a friend and interrogated his elderly mother outside her home in China. The Chongqing police had not answered DW's request for comment by the time of publication.
On social media, many have hailed Qi as a "warrior." But when speaking with DW in London, he simply shook his head: "I'm just an ordinary person. I simply couldn't take it anymore — someone had to do something."
As a practicing Buddhist, Qi told DW: "I often talk to my children about karma… Sow the seeds of hatred, and you will reap the fruits of hatred."
"I don't want them to keep living in this kind of society," he said, "It's like you're living in a cesspit, yet you are forced to say, 'It smells good.'"
DW correspondent Hao Yu contributed reporting
Edited by: Keith Walker
Yuchen Li East Asia correspondent covering China and Taiwan
Send us your feedback
jward
passin' thru
theguardian.com
Australian and Canadian warships sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait have been followed and warned by China’s military, with Beijing describing the incident as a provocation.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane and the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec were engaged in “trouble-making and provocation”.
“The actions of the Canadians and Australians send the wrong signals and increase security risks,” it said.
An Australian defence spokesperson said the HMAS Brisbane conducted a routine transit with the Canadian frigate through the Taiwan Strait over 6-7 September, “in accordance with international law”.
“HMAS Brisbane is on a four-month-long Regional Presence Deployment to the Indo-Pacific region,” they said.
“Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise freedom of navigation and uphold International Law, particularly United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
A spokesperson said the Canadian armed forces do not comment on sail plans for currently deployed ships.
The spokesperson said the Ville de Quebec is deployed as part of Operation Horizon, meant to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ville de Quebec was operating in the Philippine economic zone earlier this week, participating in freedom of navigation exercises, according to a Canadian government statement.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Australian armed forces.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement that it keeps a close watch on activity in the strait and “dispatches appropriate air and naval forces to ensure the security and stability” of the waterway, which separates communist China from the democratic island of Taiwan.
The US Navy and, on occasion, ships from allied countries including Canada, Britain and France transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, about once a month. Taiwan also considers it an international waterway.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway is part of its territorial waters. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims.
China has increased its military pressure on the island over the past five years, including staging war games nearby.
www.theguardian.com
China’s military follows Australian and Canadian warships in Taiwan Strait accusing them of ‘provocation’
Australian and Canadian warships sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait have been followed and warned by China’s military, with Beijing describing the incident as a provocation.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane and the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec were engaged in “trouble-making and provocation”.
“The actions of the Canadians and Australians send the wrong signals and increase security risks,” it said.
An Australian defence spokesperson said the HMAS Brisbane conducted a routine transit with the Canadian frigate through the Taiwan Strait over 6-7 September, “in accordance with international law”.
“HMAS Brisbane is on a four-month-long Regional Presence Deployment to the Indo-Pacific region,” they said.
“Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise freedom of navigation and uphold International Law, particularly United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
A spokesperson said the Canadian armed forces do not comment on sail plans for currently deployed ships.
The spokesperson said the Ville de Quebec is deployed as part of Operation Horizon, meant to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ville de Quebec was operating in the Philippine economic zone earlier this week, participating in freedom of navigation exercises, according to a Canadian government statement.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Australian armed forces.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a statement that it keeps a close watch on activity in the strait and “dispatches appropriate air and naval forces to ensure the security and stability” of the waterway, which separates communist China from the democratic island of Taiwan.
The US Navy and, on occasion, ships from allied countries including Canada, Britain and France transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, about once a month. Taiwan also considers it an international waterway.
China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway is part of its territorial waters. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims.
China has increased its military pressure on the island over the past five years, including staging war games nearby.
China’s military follows Australian and Canadian warships in Taiwan Strait accusing them of ‘provocation’
Strait is considered an international waterway by countries including the US, Canada, Britain and Taiwan
www.theguardian.com
danielboon
TB Fanatic
防衛省統合幕僚監部
@jointstaffpa
Auto-translated from Japanese by Grok
On September 11, the Chinese Navy aircraft carrier "Fujian," one Sovremenny-class missile destroyer, and one Luyang II-class missile destroyer, totaling three vessels, were confirmed operating in the East China Sea. Note that this is the first time the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has confirmed the aircraft carrier "Fujian." #Ministry of Defense - Self-Defense Forces will continue to conduct #vigilance, surveillance, and information gathering.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Taiwan Security Monitor
@TaiwanMonitor
·
37m
Japan's Joint Staff Office has confirmed China's third aircraft carrier CNS Fujian (Hull No. 18) is headed south through the Taiwan Strait. It is likely headed to Yulin naval base in Hainan, where it will be commissioned in the near future.
@TaiwanMonitor
·
37m
Japan's Joint Staff Office has confirmed China's third aircraft carrier CNS Fujian (Hull No. 18) is headed south through the Taiwan Strait. It is likely headed to Yulin naval base in Hainan, where it will be commissioned in the near future.
jward
passin' thru
taiwannews.com.tw
Taiwan responds to reportedly axed US military aid package | Taiwan News | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said Friday afternoon that she was aware of a Washington Post report that US President Donald Trump suspended NT$12.1 billion (US$400 million) in military aid to Taiwan.
Kuo expressed gratitude for the US’ long-standing support of Taiwan's defense. She added that both sides continue to deepen their partnership to provide a stabilizing force for global prosperity, per CNA.
Kuo said Taiwan is a responsible member of the region and determined to improve its self-defense capabilities. This includes working with the US and other allies to deter aggression and ensure regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement on Friday stating it was aware of foreign media reports regarding cooperation between Taiwan and the US on a number of issues, including security.
Foreign affairs analysts believe Trump's stance on overseas military aid has become more transactional, transitioning away from direct aid to outright sales, especially to robust economies such as those in Europe. Thus, Taiwan may be asked to pay more for its continued defense cooperation with the US.
taiwannews.com.tw
Taiwan responds to reportedly axed US military aid package | Taiwan News | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said Friday afternoon that she was aware of a Washington Post report that US President Donald Trump suspended NT$12.1 billion (US$400 million) in military aid to Taiwan.
Kuo expressed gratitude for the US’ long-standing support of Taiwan's defense. She added that both sides continue to deepen their partnership to provide a stabilizing force for global prosperity, per CNA.
Kuo said Taiwan is a responsible member of the region and determined to improve its self-defense capabilities. This includes working with the US and other allies to deter aggression and ensure regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement on Friday stating it was aware of foreign media reports regarding cooperation between Taiwan and the US on a number of issues, including security.
Foreign affairs analysts believe Trump's stance on overseas military aid has become more transactional, transitioning away from direct aid to outright sales, especially to robust economies such as those in Europe. Thus, Taiwan may be asked to pay more for its continued defense cooperation with the US.
Taiwan responds to reportedly axed US military aid package | Taiwan News | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
Presidential Office spokesperson aware of foreign media articles stating US military aid is off table | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
Knoxville's Joker
Has No Life - Lives on TB
The transactional nature is not a bad thing. It stops putting us on the hook for future liabilities and instead gives us net future export revenues... Basically it puts things on a footing to where other parties have to play nice or we cancel orders...taiwannews.com.tw
Taiwan responds to reportedly axed US military aid package | Taiwan News | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Presidential Office Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said Friday afternoon that she was aware of a Washington Post report that US President Donald Trump suspended NT$12.1 billion (US$400 million) in military aid to Taiwan.
Kuo expressed gratitude for the US’ long-standing support of Taiwan's defense. She added that both sides continue to deepen their partnership to provide a stabilizing force for global prosperity, per CNA.
Kuo said Taiwan is a responsible member of the region and determined to improve its self-defense capabilities. This includes working with the US and other allies to deter aggression and ensure regional peace, stability, and prosperity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement on Friday stating it was aware of foreign media reports regarding cooperation between Taiwan and the US on a number of issues, including security.
Foreign affairs analysts believe Trump's stance on overseas military aid has become more transactional, transitioning away from direct aid to outright sales, especially to robust economies such as those in Europe. Thus, Taiwan may be asked to pay more for its continued defense cooperation with the US.
Taiwan responds to reportedly axed US military aid package | Taiwan News | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
Presidential Office spokesperson aware of foreign media articles stating US military aid is off table | Sep. 20, 2025 17:35
jward
passin' thru
Polymarket Intel
@PolymarketIntel
5h
The Washington Post, citing leaked documents, reports that Russia is assisting China in preparations for a potential Taiwan invasion under a $580 million deal that includes training a Chinese amphibious battalion and supplying equipment. Training will occur in both Russia and China. Taiwan says it is monitoring developments and is prepared for any attack.
@PolymarketIntel
5h
The Washington Post, citing leaked documents, reports that Russia is assisting China in preparations for a potential Taiwan invasion under a $580 million deal that includes training a Chinese amphibious battalion and supplying equipment. Training will occur in both Russia and China. Taiwan says it is monitoring developments and is prepared for any attack.
jward
passin' thru
apnews.com
LONDON (AP) — Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne invasion of Taiwan, according to an analysis of leaked Russian documents by a U.K.-based defense and security forum.
The Royal United Services Institute’s analysis is based on around 800 pages of documents, including contracts and lists of equipment to be supplied by Moscow to Beijing, from the Black Moon hacktivist group, which previously published some of the documents online. It does not identify its members but describes itself in a manifesto as opposed to governments that carry out aggressive foreign policy.
The authors of the RUSI report shared some of the documents with The Associated Press and say they appear to be genuine, although parts of the documents may have been omitted or altered. AP is unable to independently verify their authenticity.
The mix of completed and apparent draft Russian documents reference meetings between Chinese and Russian delegations — including visits to Moscow — and payment and delivery timelines for high-altitude parachute systems and amphibious assault vehicles. They suggest that Russia has begun work on the products to be delivered but don’t contain direct evidence from the Chinese side that Beijing has paid any money or received any equipment.
The authors argue the equipment could be used to invade Taiwan. Under President Xi Jinping, China has embarked upon a broad modernization program of its armed forces with the goal of transforming it into a “world-class” military by 2050.
The documents don’t mention Taiwan directly, but the analysis by the London-based institute suggests the deal would help China gain advanced parachuting capabilities that it would need to mount an invasion, potentially speeding up a timeline.
It’s not certain that China has decided to invade Taiwan, but access to Russian equipment and localized training in China means Beijing will be better equipped for a potential invasion, Danylyuk said.
“The Chinese school of airborne landing is very young,” he said, suggesting Moscow’s assistance could help speed up China’s airborne program by about 10 to 15 years.
Russia’s Kremlin, and China and Taiwan’s defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The greatest value of the deal” to China is likely in the training and procedures for command and control of parachute forces, because Russia has “combat experience,” whereas China doesn’t, write Oleksandr Danylyuk and Jack Watling.
The analysts say Russia’s aim is to develop as a military supplier to China and fund its war in Ukraine. But Danylyuk also suggested that Moscow may want to draw Beijing into a conflict with Washington over Taiwan, distracting the U.S. from Russia’s war with Ukraine.
While Beijing’s military capabilities largely surpass Moscow’s, the analysis says China has gaps which Russia can fill. Russia has a long history of airborne forces dating back decades, knowhow the authors say China needs.
Song Zhongping, a military commentator in Beijing, said China had superior equipment, but “Russia has more combat experience.”
Wen-Ti Sung, an expert on China and Taiwan with the Atlantic Council, said parachuting in forces would probably support the logistics of any invasion but would be unlikely to be the “main event.”
Instead, “China is playing the long game” by acquiring Russian equipment, Sung said. That’s because Beijing will find a way to reverse engineer the equipment and technology and develop it not just for airborne combat but also for advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance which are critical for modern warfare, he said.
Russia also agreed to provide training in China and a complete set of equipment for an airborne battalion including the ability to carry out infiltration by special forces, the analysis says.
That includes the sale of 37 light amphibious assault vehicles, 11 amphibious anti-tank self-propelled guns, and 11 airborne armored personnel carriers, as well as command and observation vehicles. The total cost is listed as more than $210 million.
Beijing wants all the vehicles to be equipped with Chinese communication systems and to be prepared to use Chinese ammunition, the documents show.
The documents reference the minutes of a meeting from March 8, 2024 in Moscow where Russia agreed to provide China by the end of 2024 with details of how the system, known as Dalnolyot, performed under colder temperature conditions down to –60 degrees Celsius (–76 Fahrenheit.)
According to the documents, Beijing requested testing the parachute systems for drops from 8,000 meters (26,250 feet).
That height would allow Chinese forces to glide for up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) allowing “Chinese special forces groups to penetrate the territory of other countries without being noticed,” the RUSI report said.
Danylyuk suggested the Dalnolyot system could be used for a “stage zero” landing in Taiwan, in which Beijing secretly sends in equipment and special forces from aircraft outside Taiwanese airspace.
In February 2022, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his special forces soldiers tried to take over Hostomel airfield on the outskirts of Kyiv.
They planned to establish a base to fly in more troops, but several Russian helicopters were hit by missiles before they even got to Hostomel. An attempt to take control of a military airbase south of Kyiv also failed.
Western officials and military experts suggest the failure to establish an air bridge from Russia to Ukraine turned what Moscow expected to be a swift victory into a grueling war three years and counting.
Now Moscow has dipped into its Soviet-era stocks to replace weapons on the battlefield and, like Ukraine, is ramping up its weapons production.
But that doesn’t mean Moscow is unable to sell equipment to China, Danylyuk said.
The airborne equipment described in the documents was necessary only for “the invasion stage,” he said. Russia doesn’t need such equipment for Ukraine, he said.
The report suggests China could do that by airdropping armored vehicles on golf courses near Taiwanese ports and airfields which could allow air troops to clear a path for landing forces.
___
Associated Press journalists Dake Kang in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
apnews.com
Russia is helping China prepare to seize Taiwan, report says | AP News
LONDON (AP) — Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne invasion of Taiwan, according to an analysis of leaked Russian documents by a U.K.-based defense and security forum.
The Royal United Services Institute’s analysis is based on around 800 pages of documents, including contracts and lists of equipment to be supplied by Moscow to Beijing, from the Black Moon hacktivist group, which previously published some of the documents online. It does not identify its members but describes itself in a manifesto as opposed to governments that carry out aggressive foreign policy.
The authors of the RUSI report shared some of the documents with The Associated Press and say they appear to be genuine, although parts of the documents may have been omitted or altered. AP is unable to independently verify their authenticity.
The mix of completed and apparent draft Russian documents reference meetings between Chinese and Russian delegations — including visits to Moscow — and payment and delivery timelines for high-altitude parachute systems and amphibious assault vehicles. They suggest that Russia has begun work on the products to be delivered but don’t contain direct evidence from the Chinese side that Beijing has paid any money or received any equipment.
The authors argue the equipment could be used to invade Taiwan. Under President Xi Jinping, China has embarked upon a broad modernization program of its armed forces with the goal of transforming it into a “world-class” military by 2050.
Equipment could be used to attack Taiwan
High ranking U.S. officials have suggested Xi ordered his military to be prepared for a possible invasion of Taiwan as early as 2027. Beijing claims the self-governing democracy is rightfully a part of China and has not ruled out seizing the island by force.The documents don’t mention Taiwan directly, but the analysis by the London-based institute suggests the deal would help China gain advanced parachuting capabilities that it would need to mount an invasion, potentially speeding up a timeline.
It’s not certain that China has decided to invade Taiwan, but access to Russian equipment and localized training in China means Beijing will be better equipped for a potential invasion, Danylyuk said.
“The Chinese school of airborne landing is very young,” he said, suggesting Moscow’s assistance could help speed up China’s airborne program by about 10 to 15 years.
Russia’s Kremlin, and China and Taiwan’s defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The greatest value of the deal” to China is likely in the training and procedures for command and control of parachute forces, because Russia has “combat experience,” whereas China doesn’t, write Oleksandr Danylyuk and Jack Watling.
The analysts say Russia’s aim is to develop as a military supplier to China and fund its war in Ukraine. But Danylyuk also suggested that Moscow may want to draw Beijing into a conflict with Washington over Taiwan, distracting the U.S. from Russia’s war with Ukraine.
While Beijing’s military capabilities largely surpass Moscow’s, the analysis says China has gaps which Russia can fill. Russia has a long history of airborne forces dating back decades, knowhow the authors say China needs.
Song Zhongping, a military commentator in Beijing, said China had superior equipment, but “Russia has more combat experience.”
Wen-Ti Sung, an expert on China and Taiwan with the Atlantic Council, said parachuting in forces would probably support the logistics of any invasion but would be unlikely to be the “main event.”
Instead, “China is playing the long game” by acquiring Russian equipment, Sung said. That’s because Beijing will find a way to reverse engineer the equipment and technology and develop it not just for airborne combat but also for advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance which are critical for modern warfare, he said.
Russia agreed to provide training and equipment
According to a document dated September 2024, an initial 2021 agreement detailed timelines for payments and delivery. Stages one and two — analysis of technical specifications, software modifications and equipment manufacturing — have been completed, according to that document.Russia also agreed to provide training in China and a complete set of equipment for an airborne battalion including the ability to carry out infiltration by special forces, the analysis says.
That includes the sale of 37 light amphibious assault vehicles, 11 amphibious anti-tank self-propelled guns, and 11 airborne armored personnel carriers, as well as command and observation vehicles. The total cost is listed as more than $210 million.
Beijing wants all the vehicles to be equipped with Chinese communication systems and to be prepared to use Chinese ammunition, the documents show.
Beijing seeks high-altitude parachute systems
Russia agreed to sell China systems which are designed for parachuting up to 190 kilograms (419 pounds) from an extremely high altitude, the RUSI analysis said.The documents reference the minutes of a meeting from March 8, 2024 in Moscow where Russia agreed to provide China by the end of 2024 with details of how the system, known as Dalnolyot, performed under colder temperature conditions down to –60 degrees Celsius (–76 Fahrenheit.)
According to the documents, Beijing requested testing the parachute systems for drops from 8,000 meters (26,250 feet).
That height would allow Chinese forces to glide for up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) allowing “Chinese special forces groups to penetrate the territory of other countries without being noticed,” the RUSI report said.
Danylyuk suggested the Dalnolyot system could be used for a “stage zero” landing in Taiwan, in which Beijing secretly sends in equipment and special forces from aircraft outside Taiwanese airspace.
Russia’s parachute troops failed in Ukraine
Although Russia has a long history of parachute troops, Moscow did not deploy them successfully in Ukraine.In February 2022, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his special forces soldiers tried to take over Hostomel airfield on the outskirts of Kyiv.
They planned to establish a base to fly in more troops, but several Russian helicopters were hit by missiles before they even got to Hostomel. An attempt to take control of a military airbase south of Kyiv also failed.
Western officials and military experts suggest the failure to establish an air bridge from Russia to Ukraine turned what Moscow expected to be a swift victory into a grueling war three years and counting.
Now Moscow has dipped into its Soviet-era stocks to replace weapons on the battlefield and, like Ukraine, is ramping up its weapons production.
But that doesn’t mean Moscow is unable to sell equipment to China, Danylyuk said.
The airborne equipment described in the documents was necessary only for “the invasion stage,” he said. Russia doesn’t need such equipment for Ukraine, he said.
Lessons from Russian defeats
The analysts wrote that China’s “operational challenge” in Taiwan would be to do what Russia did not: suppress Taiwan’s air defenses and land sufficient troops and equipment to be able to build up a force to defeat the Taiwanese military before it mobilizes.The report suggests China could do that by airdropping armored vehicles on golf courses near Taiwanese ports and airfields which could allow air troops to clear a path for landing forces.
___
Associated Press journalists Dake Kang in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Russia is helping China to prepare for a potential invasion of Taiwan, defense institute says
Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne takeover of Taiwan, according to a UK-based defense forum.
apnews.com
jward
passin' thru
Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal
U.S. WARNS: CHINA COULD BE GETTING READY TO INVADE TAIWAN
A secret military report says China is turning giant ferries, the kind that usually carry cars and people, into ships that could haul tanks and soldiers.
Back in 2022, China even practiced with 30 of these ferries during military drills, and by 2026, they could have more than 70 ready to go.
Taiwan says this is just more proof that China wants to take them over, and the U.S. is warning that if war breaks out, those “civilian” ferries might end up as military targets.
China is building an invasion fleet in plain sight, and it could drag the world into a massive showdown.
Source: Disclose TV
@MarioNawfal
U.S. WARNS: CHINA COULD BE GETTING READY TO INVADE TAIWAN
A secret military report says China is turning giant ferries, the kind that usually carry cars and people, into ships that could haul tanks and soldiers.
Back in 2022, China even practiced with 30 of these ferries during military drills, and by 2026, they could have more than 70 ready to go.
Taiwan says this is just more proof that China wants to take them over, and the U.S. is warning that if war breaks out, those “civilian” ferries might end up as military targets.
China is building an invasion fleet in plain sight, and it could drag the world into a massive showdown.
Source: Disclose TV
emiliozapata
Inactive
simply cannot see china being that stupid!
This is a fantastically cost effective way to build a reserve or mobilization fleet. That reinforcement and upgrades are small potatoes compared to having to build a separate naval vessel that will sit and need continuous maintenance until needed.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
indeed
Posted for fair use.......
asiatimes.com
Military
by Julian McBride
October 1, 2025
Amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan is remilitarizing its Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in a manner not seen since the end of World War II. To maintain a threshold of deterrence, Japan and the United States are growing their mutual defense capabilities to new heights.
The United States military has deployed the Typhon missile system to Japan as a major set of deterrence capabilities against a rapidly militarizing China. With major areas of responsibility to cover in its Northern territories and East and South China Sea, the Typhon can help the JSDF and US Forces Japan (USJF) enhance their rocket force if tensions continue to rise.
The Typhon is a mid-range capability missile launcher (MRC) for the SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Designed by Lockheed Martin, the Typhon, also known as the Strategic Mid-range Fires System (SMRF), officially entered US Army use in 2023.
Utilizing the SMRF, US Army personnel can fill gaps in the military’s precision rocket fire inventory. According to Defense News, the decision to create the concept of the Typhon came from a strategic fires study by the US Army’s Futures Command Research and Analysis Center in mid-2020.
The Typhon can hit mobile targets up to 499 kilometers away with ground-launched hypersonic missiles. Included in the system are the Battery Operations Center (command), four vertical launchers (each with 16 missiles) and mobile trailers.
Depending on the type of missile, the mid-range capabilities of the Typhon allow US forces in the Indo-Pacific flexibility to counter targets on land and sea, such as enemy ships.
With the US shifting back to its amphibious roots, particularly with Force Design 2030, the Typhon MRC helps supplement various branches in the Asia-Pacific.
Although the system has been deployed in the Philippines since the Spring of 2024, the Typhon system was first used during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 this past July at the Bradshaw training site near Darwin, Australia. The US Army’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force implemented the system, firing an SM-6 missile at a designated training target.
Following the successful exercise, the Pentagon announced that it had deployed the Typhon to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan. The system was unveiled during Exercise Resolute Dragon 25, in which the USFJ and the JSDF conducted joint training in maritime defense, littoral maneuvers and crisis response.
The Typhon system is now reportedly being eyed by various American allies. Germany, Japan and the Philippines have all expressed interest in purchasing the missile system.
As part of the country’s ongoing remilitarization, Germany’s Bundeswehr is eyeing the Typhon as part of the military’s strike capabilities. With growing threats from Russia, the Typhon is capable of striking Russian military bases in Kaliningrad, which is in proximity to Germany’s borders.
A Typhon for Japan would enhance the JSDF’s capabilities, as Tokyo’s adversaries, including China, North Korea and Russia, are also increasing their medium- and long-range missile stockpiles.
In late 2024, the Philippines announced plans to acquire the Typhon after being impressed with the system’s capabilities during exercises. Faced with Chinese naval (PLAN) threats across its vast maritime space, the Typhon gives Manila greater flexibility to react if armed provocations were to ensue.
Japan’s national defense and joint allied capabilities with the United States will be enhanced with the Typhon system under the littoral doctrine.
Currently, Japan faces significant maritime flashpoints that necessitate a growing American presence as part of the First Island Chain strategy to maintain freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Increasing PLAN incursions in Japan’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea have nearly led to armed conflict. Now, with the US positioning the Typhon in the country, Beijing may think twice before engaging in further provocations.
The Typhon has the capability to strike moving targets, such as mobile rocket forces and naval ships, both of which are core functions of the Chinese military.
Currently, the Typhon system can hit coastal Chinese military bases from Japan, which gives the USFJ and JSDF command options to strike and hinder PLA logistics if a war were to occur.
Simultaneously, boiling tensions in the South China Sea are a major concern for American, Japanese and Filipino forces. Alongside the US-Philippines alliance, a crucial amount of Japan’s trade runs through the Luzon Strait in the South China Sea, which the PLAN could hinder or sever if armed conflict tilted in Beijing’s favor.
Furthermore, Japan recently ratified its own defense agreement with the Philippines, and with both potentially being the Typhon’s first customers, both Indo-Pacific countries have growing arsenals to deter and combat the PLAN if turbulence in US politics leads to a slow American response time in the event of a regional crisis.
Lastly, with provocations of stray intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea that sometimes fall near the Sea of Japan, USFJ has additional options to counter the Kim Jong Un regime if a non-nuclear-tipped missile were to strike Japanese territory or American military bases directly.
The Typhon missile system is a crucial mid-range capability missile launcher needed to upgrade the US Army’s rocket and artillery capabilities amidst brewing conflicts in the Indo-Pacific.
With Japan increasingly becoming a flashpoint of aggression from China, North Korea, and Russia, stationing the Typhon to supplement the JSDF and US Forces Japan is timely and much needed for deterrence.
Julian McBride is a defense analyst and contributing editor at 19FortyFive.
Typhon in Japan changes the game — and China knows it - Asia Times
Amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan is remilitarizing its Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in a manner not seen since the end of World War II.
asiatimes.com
Military
Typhon in Japan changes the game — and China knows it
US mid-range missile system can hit mobile land and sea targets and brings China’s coastal military bases into rangeby Julian McBride
October 1, 2025
Amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Japan is remilitarizing its Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in a manner not seen since the end of World War II. To maintain a threshold of deterrence, Japan and the United States are growing their mutual defense capabilities to new heights.
The United States military has deployed the Typhon missile system to Japan as a major set of deterrence capabilities against a rapidly militarizing China. With major areas of responsibility to cover in its Northern territories and East and South China Sea, the Typhon can help the JSDF and US Forces Japan (USJF) enhance their rocket force if tensions continue to rise.
The Typhon is a mid-range capability missile launcher (MRC) for the SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Designed by Lockheed Martin, the Typhon, also known as the Strategic Mid-range Fires System (SMRF), officially entered US Army use in 2023.
Utilizing the SMRF, US Army personnel can fill gaps in the military’s precision rocket fire inventory. According to Defense News, the decision to create the concept of the Typhon came from a strategic fires study by the US Army’s Futures Command Research and Analysis Center in mid-2020.
The Typhon can hit mobile targets up to 499 kilometers away with ground-launched hypersonic missiles. Included in the system are the Battery Operations Center (command), four vertical launchers (each with 16 missiles) and mobile trailers.
Depending on the type of missile, the mid-range capabilities of the Typhon allow US forces in the Indo-Pacific flexibility to counter targets on land and sea, such as enemy ships.
With the US shifting back to its amphibious roots, particularly with Force Design 2030, the Typhon MRC helps supplement various branches in the Asia-Pacific.
Although the system has been deployed in the Philippines since the Spring of 2024, the Typhon system was first used during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 this past July at the Bradshaw training site near Darwin, Australia. The US Army’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force implemented the system, firing an SM-6 missile at a designated training target.
Following the successful exercise, the Pentagon announced that it had deployed the Typhon to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan. The system was unveiled during Exercise Resolute Dragon 25, in which the USFJ and the JSDF conducted joint training in maritime defense, littoral maneuvers and crisis response.
The Typhon system is now reportedly being eyed by various American allies. Germany, Japan and the Philippines have all expressed interest in purchasing the missile system.
As part of the country’s ongoing remilitarization, Germany’s Bundeswehr is eyeing the Typhon as part of the military’s strike capabilities. With growing threats from Russia, the Typhon is capable of striking Russian military bases in Kaliningrad, which is in proximity to Germany’s borders.
A Typhon for Japan would enhance the JSDF’s capabilities, as Tokyo’s adversaries, including China, North Korea and Russia, are also increasing their medium- and long-range missile stockpiles.
In late 2024, the Philippines announced plans to acquire the Typhon after being impressed with the system’s capabilities during exercises. Faced with Chinese naval (PLAN) threats across its vast maritime space, the Typhon gives Manila greater flexibility to react if armed provocations were to ensue.
Japan’s national defense and joint allied capabilities with the United States will be enhanced with the Typhon system under the littoral doctrine.
Currently, Japan faces significant maritime flashpoints that necessitate a growing American presence as part of the First Island Chain strategy to maintain freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Increasing PLAN incursions in Japan’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea have nearly led to armed conflict. Now, with the US positioning the Typhon in the country, Beijing may think twice before engaging in further provocations.
The Typhon has the capability to strike moving targets, such as mobile rocket forces and naval ships, both of which are core functions of the Chinese military.
Currently, the Typhon system can hit coastal Chinese military bases from Japan, which gives the USFJ and JSDF command options to strike and hinder PLA logistics if a war were to occur.
Simultaneously, boiling tensions in the South China Sea are a major concern for American, Japanese and Filipino forces. Alongside the US-Philippines alliance, a crucial amount of Japan’s trade runs through the Luzon Strait in the South China Sea, which the PLAN could hinder or sever if armed conflict tilted in Beijing’s favor.
Furthermore, Japan recently ratified its own defense agreement with the Philippines, and with both potentially being the Typhon’s first customers, both Indo-Pacific countries have growing arsenals to deter and combat the PLAN if turbulence in US politics leads to a slow American response time in the event of a regional crisis.
Lastly, with provocations of stray intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea that sometimes fall near the Sea of Japan, USFJ has additional options to counter the Kim Jong Un regime if a non-nuclear-tipped missile were to strike Japanese territory or American military bases directly.
The Typhon missile system is a crucial mid-range capability missile launcher needed to upgrade the US Army’s rocket and artillery capabilities amidst brewing conflicts in the Indo-Pacific.
With Japan increasingly becoming a flashpoint of aggression from China, North Korea, and Russia, stationing the Typhon to supplement the JSDF and US Forces Japan is timely and much needed for deterrence.
Julian McBride is a defense analyst and contributing editor at 19FortyFive.
jward
passin' thru
Ian Ellis
@ianellisjones
16h
China's newest aircraft carrier, Fujian (18), sailed south to Sanya and was spotted alongside CNS Shandong (17) for the first time.
After transiting the Taiwan Strait in mid-September, Fujian completed sea trials and integration tests in the South China Sea before its upcoming commissioning. A notable uptick in PLA air and naval activity coincided with the southern voyage and training ops.
@MT_Anderson @SinoTalk @OSINTNW
View: https://twitter.com/ianellisjones/status/1974273384834879532
@ianellisjones
16h
China's newest aircraft carrier, Fujian (18), sailed south to Sanya and was spotted alongside CNS Shandong (17) for the first time.
After transiting the Taiwan Strait in mid-September, Fujian completed sea trials and integration tests in the South China Sea before its upcoming commissioning. A notable uptick in PLA air and naval activity coincided with the southern voyage and training ops.
@MT_Anderson @SinoTalk @OSINTNW
View: https://twitter.com/ianellisjones/status/1974273384834879532
1-12020
Senior Member
Lot of time and money put into the facility / training point.
At some point training has to end and op will be conducted.
Wonder how long until they give the go.
jward
passin' thru
Mario Nawfal
@MarioNawfal
CHINA BUILDS “TAIWAN CITY” WAR GAME BASE IN THE DESERT
Satellite eyes don’t lie - Beijing’s been busy.
China’s PLA has turned its Zhurihe base in Inner Mongolia into a full-blown mock-up of downtown Taipei - the Presidential Office, the Judicial Yuan, the Ministry of Defense, even the Foreign Affairs complex.
Road grids match real streets. There’s a 280-meter tunnel for “urban infiltration.”
The site’s nearly tripled in size since 2020, and new additions were spotted this April - tailor-made for assault drills that look less like training and more like rehearsal.
Zhurihe was already known for simulating invasions.
Now it’s practically cosplay for conquest - concrete proof that “peaceful reunification” might just mean “practice makes perfect.”
Source: @clashreport
More "wolf warrior diplomacy" crap.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
Greatgrandad
Veteran Member
Sounds like China is getting ready for war.
1-12020
Senior Member
I'd have to agree.
The barge thing coupled with their other shenanigans is not good .
But this statement from the president, kinda makes me go... ah crap.
danielboon
TB Fanatic
I doubt itIf we're finally pivoting to the pacific theatre...does that mean the Russian-Ukraine dust up is fixin to be settled?
If we're finally pivoting to the pacific theatre...does that mean the Russian-Ukraine dust up is fixin to be settled?
That "pivot" has always been one EAM away for the effected units.
Cedar Lake
Connecticut Yankee
So, no more Chinese Rare Earths for U.S. MIC missile building and planes.
Pushes the reopening of domestic and allied sources against the "greens" objections and the under cut costs the CCP has used to seize the market.