The strait is over 100 miles across.
While China could burn their cities with missiles, they cannot invade against the Taiwanese capability alone.
Much less so with the US and Japanese navies as hostile entities.
It would be a turkey shoot.
IMO Taiwan needs a nuke. Maybe they can get one from Israel.
It would be a turkey shoot.
Agreed. But not without some risks. China has been developing their anti-ship missiles for some time. I still doubt they could do much damage other than some lucky shots. They do have a few subs though. But our detection technology is far superior than their ability to hide.
Open fire on Taiwan and the attack subs would inundate China. Their ports and air fields, would first be targeted, then Navy.
What are the possibilities for the PRC infiltrating Taiwan with masses of ‘tourists’ who are actually special forces
Amphibious invasion is one of the most difficult military maneuvers imaginable. For all its size the Chinese Army is inexperienced and poorly led by corrupt leaders. Aside from murdering poorly armed Tibetans and unarmed Uighurs, Falun Gong and students it has little in the way of combat experience. The only reason the PLA defeated Chiang was that it sandbagged its strength while the Kuomintang exhausted itself fighting Japan. The PLA’s “punitive” assault on Vietnam after the Vietnam War only revealed an incompetent PLA.
Not long ago the PLA got its @ss handed to it by the Indian border guards in the disputed border regions.
They have lots of fancy weapons, true. And a poorly trained snowflake Army due to years of one-child family policies. The PLA even admits the problem of its soldiers being raised without siblings and are spoiled little “princes”.
Japan would be likely to intervene as well. It doesn’t look like an invasion would succeed. But Xi is a maniac and who knows what he will do?
I lived in Taiwan during the 70’s. Taiwan’s geography limits the Chinese landing sites to a few areas. It doesn’t matter if the Chinese have more men and equipment if they cannot land those men and equipment quickly. It would be like the battle of Thermopylae and the 300. Advantage Taiwan...
I think the closest comparison to China’s military would be that of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Money is no object for either force, so there are lots of shiny new toys, but little for training — especially the realistic kind.
Saudi Arabia can’t do much other than bomb rebels in neighboring Yemen. Their army is not competent to to much else.
China’s army does look spiffy on the parade ground, however.
The Chinese study history, like any other competent military. They know our D-Day invasion survived only because of surprise, made possible because the Germans had only rudimentary radar and didn’t see a thousand ships crossing the channel until they saw them with their own eyes. And they are not stupid enough to think they can pull off a D-Day style invasion in a high intensity intel environment, where every raft and rowboat will be seen a hundred miles away.
Taiwan told china the first thing they would do is take out the Three Gorges dam. china did not like to hear that.