Replicas of warships, military installations and government buildings appear designed to help the People’s Liberation Army rehearse precision strikes and urban operations for a potential conflict involving Taiwan, the United States and Japan.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
China has constructed an extensive network of full-scale replicas depicting American and Taiwanese warships, military bases and government buildings, according to satellite imagery that defense researchers say points to increasingly detailed preparations for a possible conflict over Taiwan.
Images analyzed by The Telegraph and independent researchers show mock-ups of Taiwan’s presidential office, foreign ministry and judiciary, along with a replica of Japan’s Yokosuka Naval Base, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed forces.
Analysts said the installations appear intended to help the People’s Liberation Army test long-range precision weapons and practice attacks against military and political targets that would be strategically important during an invasion, blockade or wider regional war.
“The accuracy of the replicas signals a highly specific focus on potential adversaries rather than generic capability building,” Damien Symon, a geo-intelligence researcher at The Intel Lab, told the outlet.
The sites include a full-scale recreation of Taiwan’s government district, potentially allowing Chinese forces to practice moving through a realistic version of central Taipei and conducting operations against the island’s political leadership.
“They’re basically creating replicas to provide them with the ability to maneuver through there on a training operation as though they were standing in Taipei,” said Sean O’Connor, lead satellite image analyst at Janes.
Thomas Shugart, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the reconstructed government area appeared intended to simulate the seizure of Taiwan’s leadership and described the construction as a “rehearsal.”
“It’s messaging to Japan that ‘if there’s a fight, you’re going to be in it.’ It’s messaging to the U.S. that ‘if you try to intervene, we’re going to strike your bases’ and messaging to Taiwan that ‘we are practicing to take your capital,’” Shugart said.
The findings are adding to existing concerns about China’s military preparations involving Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly said Taiwan must eventually come under Beijing’s control and has declined to rule out using military force.
Satellite images reviewed by analysts showed impact craters and damaged ship models at several locations, suggesting the mock targets have been repeatedly struck during weapons testing.
“These aren’t close-range, controlled demonstrations,” Symon said. “You’re looking at missile launches from kilometres away … That alone points to credible long-range strike capability.”
The inclusion of ships and military facilities indicates that the training sites may support exercises involving anti-ship missiles, air attacks and other long-range systems intended to prevent American or allied forces from intervening in a Taiwan conflict.
Former Taiwanese naval officer Lu Li-shih said the replica of Yokosuka Naval Base demonstrated that Chinese military planners recognize the installation’s importance in any confrontation involving the island.
“If China attacked Taiwan, the Yokosuka Naval Base would presumably be involved, so they include a model of Yokosuka for anti-access aerial denial drills,” Lu said.
Yokosuka serves as a major operational center for U.S. naval forces stationed in the Indo-Pacific and could support American military action during a regional crisis.
A Chinese plan to strike or disable the base would fit within an anti-access and area-denial strategy designed to keep U.S. ships and aircraft away from the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters.
The replicas of American and Taiwanese ships could also allow the People’s Liberation Army to evaluate weapon accuracy, damage patterns and strike tactics against specific vessel types.
China has used mock targets in military exercises for years, but analysts said the growing realism, number and variety of the latest installations indicate a more sophisticated approach to operational planning.
Rather than representing generic structures, the sites reproduce identifiable political buildings, naval facilities and warships associated with the countries most likely to oppose a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
The training network may support combined exercises involving missile units, aircraft, naval forces and ground troops.
Urban replicas could be used to prepare soldiers for operations in Taipei, while ship and base models could help missile forces rehearse attacks intended to weaken Taiwan’s defenses and delay American or Japanese intervention.
The report emerged as China continued regular military deployments around Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has reported repeated movements of Chinese military aircraft and warships near the island in recent days.
Taiwanese forces have monitored those operations and responded with aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems.
Beijing has increasingly used military activity around Taiwan to apply political pressure, test the island’s defenses and demonstrate its ability to surround or isolate it.
Exercises near the island have included aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, naval patrols and operations resembling blockade scenarios.
The United States maintains formal relations with Beijing rather than Taipei but continues providing Taiwan with defensive weapons under the Taiwan Relations Act.
Washington opposes unilateral attempts by either side to change the existing status quo and has not formally stated whether American forces would directly defend Taiwan during an attack.
U.S. defense officials have repeatedly warned that China’s rapid military expansion is intended to provide Beijing with credible options to coerce Taiwan, impose a blockade or carry out an invasion.
Those capabilities include longer-range missiles, a growing navy, advanced aircraft and weapons designed to threaten American bases and ships throughout the region.
Japan has also become increasingly concerned because of its proximity to Taiwan and the presence of major U.S. military facilities on Japanese territory.
The construction of a Yokosuka replica suggests Chinese planners are incorporating those installations into potential wartime scenarios.
Analysts said the mock targets do not prove that Beijing has decided to attack Taiwan. They do, however, demonstrate that the Chinese military is training for detailed scenarios involving strikes on the island’s government, attacks on American naval forces and efforts to prevent allied intervention.
The damage visible at several sites indicates that those scenarios are not limited to planning exercises but have included repeated live or simulated strikes.
As China expands military activity around Taiwan, the replicas provide additional evidence that its armed forces are practicing against specific targets associated with a potential regional war.
Original article
Comments