CHINA has built more replicas of Taiwan’s government buildings in a chilling sign of its plans to invade the island.
The copycats let China’s forces practice storming the real government buildings – amid evermore foreboding sings from Xi Jinping.
China has expanded its reconstruction of Taiwanese government buildings at its Zhurihe Training Base in Inner MongoliaX
Shutterstock EditorialTaiwan has been bolstering its defences against an anticipated Chinese invasion attempt[/caption]
Experts confirmed the replicas are used for practicing the rapid capture of Taiwanese targets in the event that conflict breaks out.
The structures were revealed in satellite pictures of a Chinese military base in Inner Mongolia and obtained by a Japanese think tank.
A mock up of Taiwan’s court, Judicial Yuan, was linked to a 918ft underground tunnel, Japanese paper Sankei Shimbun reported.
At the other end was a building resembling Taiwan’s presidential office.
Japanese media reported that China has also reconstructed Taiwan’s foreign and defence ministries in recent years.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been constructing and using mock facilities like this for drills more than a decade.
In 2015, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired footage of PLA drills at a replica Presidential Office Building.
More recent satellite images from 2022 and 2023 show Chinese troops practicing urban warfare, including setting up and dismantling roadblocks and advancing with armoured units.
Experts have said they reveal China’s focus on “realistic combat training”.
The reconstruction of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, has reportedly tripled in size since 2020.
It is being developed at the Zhurihe Training Base in Inner Mongolia.
It comes after China staged another mock offensive last month – but against a British Royal Navy ship.
HMS Richmond was travelling through the disputed Taiwan Strait earlier this month when it was targeted by Beijing‘s “constructive kills”.
The ship formed part of the UK’s carrier strike group and was sailing alongside the US destroyer USS Higgins.
Chinese fighter jets made a “simulated kill” against the British ship – a missile launch without actual fire.
Officers onboard the convoy, led by HMS Prince of Wales, said the forces were “pretending to kill us” as they passed through the contentious area.
Sub-Lt Rohan Lewis, from the HMS Prince of Walesleading the group of vessels, added the Chinese were “trying to harass us”.
He told the Telegraph: “The Chinese were trying to harass us, four or five of them trying to get close. They tried to push us a little bit to see how far they can go.”
GettyChinese stealth fighter jets in a military exercise[/caption]
EPAChina has approximately 2.1million troops in its People’s Liberation Army[/caption]
Another officer added: “They gain height, then pull away and turn at 50 degrees. It’s an info-war operation – they want us to know they’re targeting us.
“We were expecting a reaction but not of a violent nature – we were confident that they wouldn’t really fire a missile.”
But the phoney attacks could have played into British hands, by helping our forces understand more about Chinese military tactics.
‘WAR OF WORDS’
China is already engaged in what experts call a “war of words” against Taiwan.
Xi’s military has increased its military activity in the area over the past few years as a show of force.
This included encircling Taiwan’s skies and waters in October – holding joint drills with its warships and fighter jets on a near-daily basis near the island.
In his New Year’s address, President Xi said that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.
He has previously called the independence of Taiwan a futile effort and that annexation by Beijing is a “historical inevitability”.
Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington’s foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China’s enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation