WW3 fears as Chinese state media reveals ‘three-stage battle plan’ to invade Taiwan as US stages war games in Pacific
WORLD War Three fears are growing after China vowed to invade Taiwan and explained how it would do it as the Communist Party celebrates its centenary.
An article in a state-controlled publication has offered a glimpse of a terrifying three-stage plan to pave the way for an invasion force to storm the breakaway island.
It comes as President Xi Jinping yesterday pledged a "complete reunification" with Taiwan as he delivered a speech to mark 100 years of the Chinese Communist party.
The warning came as tensions were increasing in the seas around China where the US and Japan are reported to have been holding joint military exercises amid fears of a possible conflict.
Any invasion would represent a serious escalation of hostilities and could drag in the US through its pact to defend Taiwan.
Washington’s regional allies such as South Korea, Japan and Australia could also be sucked into a conflict as would Nato forces such as the UK because the US is a member of the alliance.
Xi's vow to invade was followed up with an article in the publication Naval and Merchant Ships, which outlined a three-pronged attack that would pave the way for an amphibious landing and the toppling of the government in Taipei.
The first stage would see DF-16 short-range ballistic missile attacks pulverising airports, early warning radar, anti-air missile bases, and command centres across the island.
The article states: "The attacks against Taiwan’s airports would continue until [Chinese] surface troops had accomplished an assault landing."
Following this China’s H-6 bombers and J-16 fighter jets would attack naval ports, although the facilities would not be "completely destroyed" so the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could use them for a landing.
It is a common wish of the Chinese people to resolve the Taiwan issue and achieve the total reunification of the motherland
Xi Jinping, China's President
In the second stage, the article states YJ-91 and CJ-10 cruise missiles would be unleashed from land, warships and submarines.
Military bases, ammunition depots, communications infrastructure and key road junctions would be crippled.
Drones would then be dispatched to assess the damage.
Finally, the article said warships and land-based rocket forces would wipe-out any remaining obstacles so the PLA’s marine corps and amphibious landing troops would safely land.
This was the second time the publication has outlined a scenario for an attack on Taiwan.
Last year it detailed how an assault on the island’s defence systems could occur to coincide with the start of the independence-leaning president Tsai Ing-wen’s second term.
Any attack would draw in the United States which unofficially backs the province.
In 2020 the US signed a $2.2bn (£1.8bn) weapons deal with Taipei to beef up its defences.
This included Abrams tanks and Stinger missiles.
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Taiwan — broke away from China in 1949 — but the Chinese ruling party regards the island as a "renegade state" and has repeatedly vowed to take it back by force if necessary by 2050.
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A formal declaration of independence would be the likely trigger.
Over the past years Beijing has been staging war games off the coast of the island in what is widely seen as a dress rehearsal for an invasion.
