Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army staged a surprise war game – the third of 2024 and the largest ever – simulating an invasion of Taiwan.
For months now, US and allied military officials have been warning anyone who will listen that China is increasingly likely to attempt the real thing – an actual invasion – by 2027. The latest PLA exercise just underscores that these officials aren’t kidding. It seems war is coming … unless Taiwan and its allies can deter China.
The war game played out in the air and on and presumably under the sea. Taiwanese forces detected 134 Chinese warplanes around Taiwan. Sixty-one of those planes entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends hundreds of miles from the Taiwanese coast. Chinese planes in this zone are close enough to attack Taiwan.
The simulated aerial onslaught continued. One Chinese military drone flew all the way around Taiwan, demonstrating China’s ability to surveil the entire country.
As many as a hundred Chinese ships – PLA Navy warships, mostly, but apparently also including coast guard vessels and auxiliaries – surged into the western Pacific. Thirty-nine Chinese warships massed in the waters around Taiwan. That’s nearly twice as many major warships as exist in the entire Taiwanese fleet.
Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army staged a surprise war game – the third of 2024 and the largest ever – simulating an invasion of Taiwan.
For months now, US and allied military officials have been warning anyone who will listen that China is increasingly likely to attempt the real thing – an actual invasion – by 2027. The latest PLA exercise just underscores that these officials aren’t kidding. It seems war is coming … unless Taiwan and its allies can deter China.
The war game played out in the air and on and presumably under the sea. Taiwanese forces detected 134 Chinese warplanes around Taiwan. Sixty-one of those planes entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends hundreds of miles from the Taiwanese coast. Chinese planes in this zone are close enough to attack Taiwan.
The simulated aerial onslaught continued. One Chinese military drone flew all the way around Taiwan, demonstrating China’s ability to surveil the entire country.
As many as a hundred Chinese ships – PLA Navy warships, mostly, but apparently also including coast guard vessels and auxiliaries – surged into the western Pacific. Thirty-nine Chinese warships massed in the waters around Taiwan. That’s nearly twice as many major warships as exist in the entire Taiwanese fleet.