11 October 2024

Taiwan Thinks China Can’t Invade. They’ve Never Been More Wrong

Brandon J. Weichert

Why Taiwan Might Face a Chinese Invasion Sooner Than You Think

Taiwan’s wishful thinking continues unabated. A recent report conducted by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry asserts that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), while it has made significant strides in its modernization push, is still unable to conquer Taiwan in an amphibious invasion, at least not for another few years. Indeed, this flowery report gels nicely with the long-running contention of the Pentagon that China will not be able to successfully invade Taiwan until at least 2027.

Conveniently, that is the year that the Pentagon believes that its forces will be able to better deter China. But Beijing knows that American military capabilities if trends persist, will be shored up by 2027. And who knows how much more stable and prosperous the United States might be by then.

Compare That to Now

America’s economy is a turgid mess, its political order is crumbling, its social fabric is tearing, and there is a very real fear that the United States might devolve into some sort of civil war, in a limited sense, in the aftermath of whoever wins the 2024 presidential election.

On the international front, the U.S. military is stretched and strained to its breaking

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