China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed.
“Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.”
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying any third-party intervention on Taiwan’s behalf,” the report said.
Photo: Daniel Slim, AFP
Beijing has “a range of options to coerce Taipei” based on the PLA’s “increasing capabilities in multiple domains,” it said.
These include an air and maritime blockade, military actions, precision missile and airstrikes, the seizure of Taiwan’s small outlying islands and a large-scale amphibious invasion of Taiwan proper, it added.
An amphibious invasion would be “one of the most complicated and difficult military operations for the PLA” and would “likely strain the PRC’s armed forces and invite a strong international response,” but it had conducted “realistic, large-scale” amphibious assault training last year that was “almost certainly aimed at supporting a Taiwan invasion scenario,” the report said.
Although there is no indication that China is expanding its fleet of tank landing ships and medium-sized landing craft at this time, the PLA probably assesses that it already has sufficient amphibious capacity or believes that its shipbuilding capacity can produce the necessary shore-to-shore connectors relatively quickly, it said.
The report also said that China’s navy transferred many of its land-based aircraft, including 300 fighter jets, to its air force last year, so that the navy could “focus on improving carrier-based air operations.”
In addition, the PLA’s rocket force increased its presence along the Taiwan Strait with new missile battalions last year and “is prepared to conduct missile attacks” in an attempt to “degrade Taiwan’s defenses, neutralize Taiwan’s leadership or break the public’s will to fight,” it said.
The report also detailed how Taiwan is “taking steps to address the military threat posed by the PLA,” such as by building war reserve stocks, growing its defense-industrial base, improving joint operations and crisis response capabilities, and strengthening its officer and noncommissioned officer corps.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday told reporters that “Taiwan has the determination, ability and strength to enhance its self-defense capabilities and deter reckless moves by China.”
China’s military expansion is threatening regional peace and stability, he said, adding that Beijing has aroused concerns in the region and countries in the Indo-Pacific and Europe are holding more military exercises to bolster regional security and avoid conflict in the Taiwan Strait or the Indo-Pacific region.
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