In the desert, at a military education site, China has built a style of a key district of the Taiwanese capital, where presidential and other government buildings are located, as satellite photographs show.
The model, like others before it, turns out to imply China’s intentions and priorities, even if its use is uncertain.
China adopts a competitive and coercive habit that worries its neighbors, makes a primary military effort to strengthen and modernize, and has never renounced the use of force as an option to achieve unification with Taiwan.
Images of the simulated target, located in the desert of the Alxa League region of northern China’s Inner Mongolia, began circulating on social media earlier this week. Taiwanese defense analyst Joseph Wen posted the satellite symbol on Monday, along with a comparative map of the actual target. Taipei area.
Wen noted that while China had already created a reproduction of the construction of Taiwan’s president’s workplace in some other area, particularly in Zhurihe, this mock-up covered much of the workplace stage and was set in what gave the impression of an aerial bombardment and shooting education range.
Compared to a real-life map of the area, the style looks realistic, with the roads and scenery of the presidential office very similar to the actual location in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
Satellite imagery sent by Planet Labs to Business Insider shows that the site, which still exists, has been around since at least December 2022.
It’s unclear exactly when the style was created, but it’s not the first.
In 2014 and 2015, satellite imagery showed some other mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential building in Zhurihe, also in Inner Mongolia, and video broadcast via CCTV in July 2015 showed Chinese troops attacking the fake building, The Diplomat reported at the time.
The workplace mock-up is a convincing replica. Images from China-based Internet portals showed troops entering the building and carrying out some kind of attack.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday about photographs of the mock-up of the Bo’ai Special Zone that surfaced this week, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said any country can simply emulate another’s amenities and area, adding that Taiwan’s military can also conduct military exercises. in simulated locations.
Indeed, this kind of training isn’t necessarily unusual, but it nonetheless signals intent.
China has also been documented building mock-ups of US aircraft carriers and other warships at training sites, likely to test and improve its missiles.
Experts have long warned about the buildup of reserves and functions of its Rocket Force and the role those assets would play if the U. S. and China were to go to war, whether over Taiwan or some other reason.
The Alxa League-style photographs have emerged at a time of renewed fear of possible Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
Amid China’s confidence at sea and in the air, demonstrated through unpredictable military exercises, intense clashes with Philippine ships, and close contact with U. S. aircraft, fears of a conceivable invasion of Taiwan persist.
Last week, U. S. Navy Adm. John Aquilino, commander of the U. S. Indo-Pacific Command, told the U. S. House Armed Services Committee that China is building its military on a scale seen since World War II and is on track to be ready. invade Taiwan by 2027.
China occasionally uses competitive and coercive economic, diplomatic, and military tactics toward Taiwan, such as pressuring countries that interact with the island or flying fighter jets and bombers around it, forcing a response.
In reaction to Taiwan’s elections this past year, China has stepped up the pressure and the military in Taiwan has prompted warnings from China.
Taiwan elected a new president in January, Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is currently vice president. This is a historic victory for the PDP, which has already served three consecutive terms in office. It’s also the worst-case scenario for China.
The DPP has found itself in a complicated scenario since it came into force in 2016, seeking to maintain the prestige quo with Beijing while maintaining Taiwan’s autonomy. Even though China opposes the elections, Beijing would have liked Hou You-ih of the Kuomintang, who is not pro-Beijing still has a softer view of relations with China than the DPP.
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