How To Invade Taiwan

A practical guide to Chinese planning

It may look like some sort of mechanical narwhal, but it is assessed to be an invasion barge. Maritime experts have been watching Chinese developments very closely, and the construction of these unusual vessels could not go unseen. Three major variants have been identified by Tom Shugart. They have been photographed operating linked together as a single extended, deployable pier.

Each section of the assembled pier has legs to anchor the combined structure on the sea floor. This offers “a hint as to how they will be used,” H.I. Sutton says at Covert Shores. In the shipping trade, they are called “jack-up barges,” and they are common in offhore industries like oil and gas extraction. From the moment he saw them in January, however, Sutton called them “a leading indicator for a Taiwan invasion.” They certainly make the threat of Chinese invasion more realistic for Taiwan.