Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Beijing has been conducting military exercises around Taiwan for years, but a trio of vessels is causing fresh alarm.
The three new barges link together to create a bridge stretching half a mile, and for stability in shallow waters they can prop themselves up on retractable stilts.
This solves a logistical problem for China’s Xi Jinping: the Taiwan Strait is notoriously choppy and much of the island’s west coast is banded by shallow waters, making it impossible for large ships to land.
President Xi is committed to Taiwan’s “reunification” with Beijing and hasn’t ruled out the use of force.
But what China’s troops would do once they reach the island is another matter.
Taiwan’s mountainous and heavily-forested terrain is “unforgiving”, writes David Sacks from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Taking the island by force would require street-by-street combat.
Photo credit: @tshugart3/X
