China is preparing for an invasion of Taiwan
But will the very Taiwan Island
Be China’s greatest enemy
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
We are able to do great things on this show because of support from viewers like you.
If you’ve been watching, you know China is edging closer to an invasion of Taiwan,
constantly harassing the country with incursions by the Chinese military.
But because of your support, we were able to send a camera guy to Taiwan,
so we could show you that China won’t have an easy time if it invades.
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head on over to our crowd funding website patreon.com/chinauncensored.
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Anyway, on with the show.
China has specifically said it will use force to conquer Taiwan.
If Taiwan, a vibrant democracy of 24 million people, falls,
the rest of the world falls with it. China would become the dominant power in Asia.
But an invasion of Taiwan won’t be easy.
Taiwan is using what’s called a porcupine strategy. Basically it's bristling with weapons
From their hypersonic missile program. To kamikaze drones.
And Taiwan would see a Chinese invasion coming.
Satellite imaging would show Chinese troops massing in these amphibious staging areas.
By the time China was ready to invade, Taiwan, Japan, and the US would be on alert.
Then there’s the small problem of typhoons.
There are really only two times of the year the weather would be good enough for an invasion.
One option would be to invade in April, but even then, it gets very foggy
The other time would be in October, which is less foggy, but it runs the risk of having late
season typhoons, and once November rolls around, the PLA runs into winter squalls.
Even if the CCP manages to overcome those challenges, Taiwan isn’t just one big island.
“Taiwan has over 100 islands, many of which are full of missiles, rockets, and artillery guns.”
And even if the CCP manages to get through all that, then it has to deal with Taiwan itself.
And any amphibious landing there would be a nightmare.
I’ll show you why after the break.
Welcome back.
In the event of an invasion, China would likely start off by launching missiles,
bombers, and artillery to soften up defenses.
Conquer smaller Taiwanese islands
And then storm Taiwan’s coasts.
This won’t be easy. It’ll be such a massive effort
that it’ll dwarf the complexity of D-Day and the Battle of Okinawa .
That’s because China has a big problem to solve—where to land its troops.
Beaches are few and far between, while the rest of Taiwan’s shores are on very rough terrain
These include very steep cliffs to climb and wetlands to cross through without getting stuck.
Not the most ideal places for an invasion.
Especially the mountains.
“The main island of Taiwan has 258 mountain peaks over 9,800 feet high.”
Central and eastern Taiwan is full of mountains, and there are very few roads,
highways, and railroads that pass through them. The ones that do exist can easily
be boobytrapped with explosives or heavily defended, and China knows it.
The mountains also make perfect hiding spots for underground facilities and freedom fighters.
That’s why the east coast of Taiwan has a pretty low chance of being invaded.
According to Ian Easton of Project 2049 , whom we’ve had on the show before,
there are only 14 areas that are feasible for
an amphibious invasion—9 in the north and five in the southwest.
China could attack one or more of them simultaneously because all of these sites
are near two things: beaches and ports, both of which are essential for landing invaders.
The western beaches are the best options for landing, but they also present several problems.
They’re too small to land enough troops, vehicles, and supplies to secure China’s foothold,
and they lack the infrastructure for unloading large transports.
The water depth also changes because of the tides. Certain areas would be too
shallow at certain times for Chinese forces to land. They’d have to time it just right
And get this—green energy is helping protect Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. Taiwan is
building so many windmills on these beaches, it’s now even harder for an invading force to land.
This is why ports could play an essential part in China's invasion.
China needs to get troops on the ground fast. Taiwan’s ports could make that possible
They’re the only places that could support the rapid influx of hundreds
of thousands of troops and their heavy armor
“At least some authoritative Chinese sources portray these facilities as
central to the outcome of a Taiwan invasion campaign.”
Given that a lot of Taiwanese ports use cranes from China, which can be used for spying,
China would already have some intelligence and on-the-ground assets to work with.
Yes, even Chinese cranes can be used for spying. But I’m sure TikTok — a Chinese
app that’s actually collecting your information — is totally harmless. Keep on dancing, America.
The ports most likely to be invaded by China are the ports of Taipei, Taichung,
Anping, and Kaosiung. Not surprising since they’re the closest to China.
All of them are flanked by river deltas and beaches,
which could allow for an amphibious landing before or during an attack on ports.
So with all this mind, we know where a Chinese invasion would most likely
happen—the Port of Kaohsiung and Port of Taipei.
I’ll tell you why after the break.
Welcome back.
Here’s why the Port of Kaohsiung and
Port of Taipei are the biggest targets for a Chinese invasion.
Even though the middle of the west coast is flat, there are geographical obstacles
such as wetlands and ridgelines. That prevents Chinese forces from getting easy access to the
capital of Taipei, especially if the highways running along the western coast get sabotaged.
However, the risk of an invasion in the Port of Kaohsiung is high.
According to recent wargames conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
a Washington DC-based think-tank, the best chances for a Chinese amphibious
landing would take place in the south, even though it’s the furthest away from Taipei.
That’s because it’s one of the largest ports in all of Asia.
Plus, it’s flanked by Taiwan’s second longest river, the Gaoping River.
Taking it over, however, won’t be easy.
Shoushan Monkey Mountain and Banping Mountain overlook the area from the
northwest, which can be a platform for artillery and other military weapons.
And all the openings around the ports could be sealed up
by sinking large container ships or filled with oil and gasoline into
the harbors to produce seas of fire. This is true for every port opening.
Now for the port of Taipei. Many believe it would make
the most logical choice for a Chinese invasion.
The port isn’t too far from the capital. Plus, the Tamsui River,
which exits right next to the port, cuts through to the city.
China would want to take that route in order to quickly decapitate Taiwan’s leadership,
if special forces and assassins fail to do so.
Taking Taipei wouldn’t be easy.
It would first have to wipe out naval forces in Keelung,
which can deploy ships to defend Taipei within 30 minutes from the east.
And that would take time—time that would be used to reinforce the capital.
There are some other sites in the north that the Taiwanese military believe China might use
during an invasion. The two most likely are Taoyuan Hai Hu and Linkou Bauducco.
But even those sites have their problems.
For one, Taoyuan Hai Hu is right by the Xucuogang
Wetlands and is further away from the port and capital.
As for Linkou Bau, the invading force would need to time its landing just
right or else the tide would be out and the water too shallow.
Even if China succeeded in landing, the highway leading to Taipei—any highway,
for that matter—could easily be sabotaged.
East of the port is more likely,
given that there’s a giant beach and the river cutting through to the capital.
Depending on the tide, there’s a lot of ground that an invasion force would have to go through,
which could be blocked with mines and anti-tank obstacles.
Look at this and imagine yourself being on the Chinese side going through a large open,
flat beach towards a mountain full of enemies raining fire onto you while watching out for
booby traps underneath you. If it scares you, think how much more the Chinese are.
Taiwan has the height advantage, especially with the Guanyin Mountain, Linkou Plateau,
and the Yangming Mountain overlooking all of the beach,
port, and the river running through towards the city.
Because China is likely to invade through a port, Taiwan has set up a lot of defenses such as mines,
underwater surveillance and defenses, machine gun placements, and tons of boobytraps.
Even if China manages to take control of the beaches and ports, it’ll have to deal
with even more mountains, as well as urban warfare, which won’t be easy to fight in.
All this on-the-ground footage should give you an idea of how difficult it would be to invade,
but we shouldn’t rule out the possibility of China can make it happen.
That’s why Taiwan needs to prepare for a post-invasion insurgency with
the help of the US and other like-minded partners.
If China manages to keep its ground in Taiwan, Taiwan would have to take a lesson from,
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Taliban in Afghanistan.
They would need to hide in the mountains and strike at Chinese supply lines.
What matters most, however, is that Taiwanese
people have the will to resist China, like the Ukrainians against Russians.
The US can and should help.
Good news is that the US is doing some training to prepare for that.
One of the best ways they can really prepare is to come in person and see
for themselves how they can use the terrain to counter China.
They have the terrain advantage—they just need to use it well.
And this show is possible because of viewer support. So as a thank you to my wonderful
fans who support China Uncensored through the crowdfunding website Patreon or the
exclusive social media platform Locals, I’ll answer one of your questions:
Today’s question comes from Mark E “How does the rest of the world "work with China" on
Climate Change when China still insists that it is a Developing Nation. Developing Nation
status allows China to completely ignore all climate rules which China continues
to do. China is the most polluted country in the world isn't interested in changing.”
Yes Mark, that’s a very good question. Kind of doesn’t make sense does it?
And yet that’s the message that continues to be pushed
by people like Biden’s climate czar John Kerry.
China’s emissions exceed all developed nations combined.
If you want to make a dent in pollution, then you have to work with China.
And that means you can’t go hard on the Chinese Communist Party for things like human rights,
otherwise that threatens climate talks.
Why would China ever do anything to cut back on pollution?! As long
as it's the biggest polluter, it gets all kinds of concessions from the US.
That doesn’t incentivize the regime to cut back, it incentivizes it to pollute more. Which it is.
The way to do it is to not reward China for polluting but to punish it for polluting.
Pull out US business unless things get better. That might actually force some change.
But Mark, take comfort in knowing that you’re smarter than John Kerry.
Thanks for your question and your support.
And thanks to everyone else who supports China Uncensored through Patreon. Join us
at Patreon and contribute a dollar or more per episode. You’ll get a lot of cool perks,
including me answering your questions on the show. Check out Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.