In “The Science of Strategy,” a key textbook for People’s Liberation Army officers, Taiwan is not mentioned, but the target is clear. Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images The military fired ballistic missiles into the waters off Taiwan, 80 miles off China’s coast, sending at least four high over the island itself, according to Japan, and conducted exercises in zones closer to the island than ever before.Ĭhinese military helicopters off the shore of Fujian Province, just across the strait from Taiwan, on the first day of China’s military drills earlier this month. In this scenario, China would attempt to subdue Taiwan by choking it and its 23 million people in a ring of ships and aircraft, cutting it off physically, economically and even digitally.Ĭhina tried to use its military exercises this month to signal confidence in the People’s Liberation Army’s ability to encircle Taiwan. While China likely still lacks the ability to quickly invade and seize Taiwan, it could try to impose a blockade to force the island into concessions or as a precursor to wider military action. It has modernized its forces, developing the world’s largest navy, which now challenges American supremacy in the seas around Taiwan. It has built up the People’s Liberation Army with the goal of ultimately taking Taiwan, if efforts to unify peacefully fail. For decades, Beijing has had its sights on Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own.
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