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China is reportedly building a number of “D-Day-style” barges that could be used to aid an invasion of Taiwan, according to media reports.
At least three new craft have been spotted at the Guangzhou shipyard in southern China, according to Naval News.
The barges were inspired by World War II “Mulberry Harbours”, which were portable harbors built for the Allied campaign in Normandy, France in 1944, The Telegraph reported.
Tensions between the two nations have risen in recent years. A number of barges have reportedly been seen in China, sparking fears of an invasion of Taiwan. (Getty Images)
The tensions between China and Taiwana key US partner in the Indo-Pacific region, remained outraged by Beijing’s refusal to recognize the island nation’s independence.
In its report last week, Naval News said at least three, but possibly five or more barges were seen in China’s Guangzhou shipyard. The barges, at more than 390 feet, can be used to reach the coastal road or hard surface behind the beach, the report said.
In his New Year’s message, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that “reunification” with Taiwan was inevitable.
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Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and David Trulio, President and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, meet in Taipei. (Official photo by Chen Lin/Office of the President/File)
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break our family ties and no one can stop the historic trend of national reunification,” he said on CCTV, China’s state television.
Using barges, Chinese forces could land in areas previously considered unsuitable, including rocky or soft terrain and beaches where the tanks and other heavy equipment can be delivered to firmer terrain or a coastal road, the report said.
“Any land-based invasion of Taiwan would require a large number of ships to rapidly transport personnel and equipment across the strait, particularly land-based assets such as armored vehicles,” Emma Salisbury, a naval forces researcher at the Geostrategy Council, told Naval News. “In preparation for an invasion, or at least to give China leverage, I would expect an increase in the construction of ships that could perform this transport.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Defense, the Chinese Embassy in the Washington, DC., and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission, also in Washington.
