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The Chinese invasion of Taiwan and the defense of the island seem like not that far off scenarios for now, as China warned the United States a while ago to stop playing with fire over issues with Taiwan.
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This warning a few decades ago would have been funny in the face of the size of the US military, but things have changed dramatically in favour of China in recent years as the Asian giant’s economic rise has an impact on its military capabilities, giving China a little more confidence.
Taiwan, as we have informed you on GEOPOLITIKI.COM in recent months, has recorded an unprecedented increase in Chinese bomber flights, accompanied by large numbers of Chinese fighter jets violating the air defense borders of Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan as its own territory and would have occupied it militarily several years ago had it not been for a major obstacle in the middle. This obstacle is the United States war machine, which guarantees both the security and independence of the island of Taiwan.
Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial and diplomatic issue and a regular source of friction in its relations with the United States. China has never relinquished its right to use force to take control of the island of Taiwan.
But Taiwan is not an island that will fall so easily to a Chinese invasion.
The people of Taiwan and their armed forces have been organizing the defence of the island for at least 70 years and the island itself is essentially a fortress as its geomorphology is such that any landing will result in bloodshed for the attacker even for a few kilometres.
The Chinese media may say that China can occupy the island at any time, an internal Chinese military study has revealed that the Chinese military, or PLA, considers an invasion of Taiwan extremely difficult.
China’s plan to invade Taiwan, also known as the “Joint Assault Campaign on the Island,” will begin with a massive, coordinated bombardment of Taiwan’s vital infrastructure, namely ports and airports, to paralyze the island’s army before an amphibious invasion, according to with researchers.
At the same time, the Chinese air force will try to prevail over the island before the first massive strikes on the coast by the landing forces begin.
But here is the Achilles heel of the Asian giant which has more or less 37 ships capable of landing with tank forces in Taiwan and as we know no invasion can be successful without motorized forces on the battlefield.
This is where the Taiwanese military invests heavily.
Even if it succeeds in destroying Taiwan’s air force and strategic infrastructure, the Chinese military will look for places near the mainland, such as Taipei, with nearby port and airport facilities.
Only 14 possible beaches offer what China is looking for and the Taiwanese engineer knows very well having spent decades digging tunnels and defensive positions in possible landing zones along the coast.
So if the Taiwanese navy or even weapons trying to clear China’s amphibious forces succeed in sinking 35% of the Chinese navy’s 37 amphibious ships, China will automatically have to withdraw from the invasion as the operation continues. can be fatal and increase losses dramatically.
As we have seen for some time now, we have been describing the difficulties that China has to face only from the Taiwanese army itself.
Let us now turn to the nightmare of China.
If the US chooses to defend Taiwan, even with only airpower, the first point from which they will attack is Japan.
The US Air Force in Japan operates from three bases:
The Misawa airbase
Yokota Air Base in Western Tokyo
Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
Hosted by the 35th USAF Fighter Squadron, Misawa Air Base is the only joint service facility in the Western Pacific, serving both the United States and the Japanese Air Defense Force (JASDF).
Yokota Air Base is the headquarters of US forces in Japan and the headquarters of the 374th Airlift Wing and the 5th Air Force, with a base population of 11,000.
Kadena Air Force Base is home to the 18th Wing, the US Air Force’s largest battle wing in Asia.
