CHINA has paraded its terrifying new invasion barges that connect up to form a runway for attack vehicles – which could be used to storm Taiwan.
Satellite pictures show the huge hybrid vessels lining up to form a floating bridge, amid a spate of war drills involving the army, navy and rocket force.
A new satellite image shows the invasion system lining up off the shore of Zhanjiang city, in southern China’s Guangdong province[/caption]
Pictures have revealed China’s giant D-Day style invasion barges moored off the coast[/caption]
China has been flexing its military muscles to intimidate Taiwan, which has hit back with increased drills of its own.
The satellite images show three specialised barges, each with two arms of roadway, lining up next to each other.
They connect to form a continuous bridge along which invading ground vehicles such as tanks could trundle ashore.
Huge retractable legs anchor the barges to the seabed like stilts.
Analysts have likened the purpose-built barges to the floating Mulberry Harbours used by allied forces during the D-Day landings in June, 1944.
At least five of the mobile bridges will soon be operational, according to military sources.
Some experts have doubted whether China would be able to cross the Taiwan Strait with sufficient speed and numbers for an invasion.
But this new system is the latest effort to make it possible – and could suggest the army is gearing up for an attempt, according to experts.
The barges could increase China’s options for when and when to land on Taiwan, making an invasion more achievable.
Beijing has long insisted that Taiwan is part of China, despite the island’s claim of independence.
At the end of 2024, Xi vowed: “No one can stop the reunification of China.”
The Chinese military bragged earlier this week about its military drills around the island, which it called a “powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”.
Huge ships encircled Taiwan – and Beijing even released a disturbing picture of the island surrounded by military vehicles with the caption “Closing In”.
The poster also bared the chilling phrase: “Taiwan separatists courting disaster upon themselves”.
Beijing’s armed forces posted a disturbing image of the small island with the words ‘Closing In’ on it[/caption]
The enormous Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was seen lurking near Taiwan during the latest drills[/caption]
Taiwan announced on Tuesday that it had detected at least 19 Chinese warships, as well as the large Shandong aircraft carrier, prowling in the waters nearby.
That marks the highest number of enemy vessels spotted in a 24-hour period since last May.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman of the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, announced the “sea-air combat-readiness patrols”.
He added that the move was a “joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes”.
Taiwan’s biggest annual military drills, the Han Kuang exercises, will be extended this year to include two weeks of computerised tabletop wargames and ten days of live-fire drills.
The two-week long simulation, beginning on Saturday, will be the longest-running in Han Kunag’s history – in recognition of the increasing threat of conflict.
Xi Jinping has long vowed that China will absorb Taiwan – to ‘reunify’ the country[/caption]
Taiwan runs regular military drills of its own to prepare for the threat of a Chinese invasion[/caption]
Taiwan Air Force’s Mirage 2000 fighter jets have been on exercises in response to China’s menacing movements[/caption]
Defence experts have revealed how China could seize the island with advanced warfare techniques and overwhelming military force.
And they said that China will consider now the “perfect moment” to strike, with a fragmented West and unpredictable US foreign policy from President Trump.
Professor Ashok Swain, a peace and security expert at Uppsala University in Sweden, says that China could look to attack Taiwan with full force as soon as 2027.
He told The Sun that the US administration’s withdrawal of security commitments to Europe – and potentially – Taiwan adds to Xi’s confidence.
Professor Swain said: “The global politics has changed dramatically in the last couple of months… the way Ukraine is being handled by the United States gives a certain comfort level to Xi.
“It is the perfect moment for China to attack Taiwan if it plans to do so.”
Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, added: “China’s leadership is closely watching the West’s response to other conflicts, such as Ukraine, to assess how it might react to an invasion of Taiwan.”
Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China’s enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation.