A classified US military intelligence report seen by the ABC says China is rapidly building up the country’s commercial ferry fleet to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan.

The report dates from earlier this year and was prepared by members of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for the Pentagon.

The US intelligence says the large ocean-going vessels have been modified to carry tanks and partake in amphibious operations.

China is building more than 70 of the large vessels by the end of 2026.

  • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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    2 days ago

    lmao another “Taiwan invasion” headline. How many more decades of this are we gonna get before we realize this is just propaganda?

    • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldOP
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      Totally, they’re building up military and capabilities just for shits and giggles. Also Xi literally saying that they will take Taiwan no ifs or buts about it multiple times but somehow “it’s propaganda” lmao

      https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/no-one-can-separate-taiwan-from-china-xi/3438987

      “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family. No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us,” Xi said in his 2025 New Year message, Xinhua News Agency reported.

      “No one can block the historical momentum of the reunification of the motherland,” he added.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58854081

      “The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland must be fulfilled, and will definitely be fulfilled”

      • Hadriscus@jlai.lu
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        24 hours ago

        If Xi was a girl dropping hints at me, I would get them -and I never do !

      • pathos@lemmy.world
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        There IS a propagandistic dimension to this, even as it doesn’t dispel the threat of invasion. The PRC tries to exploit their military development spending to project an image of strength but not to solely bully Taiwan or the Tiger states but towards its own population. It’s a display of strength to further the image of chinese hegemony. Maintaining this image is just as important for inner political stability.

      • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        China building an army: totally proof that they are going to invade a “country”

        Any other country on earth building an army: just self defence!

        LMAO

        I hope you’re getting paid for this shit at least…

        • 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚎𝚘𝚠@programming.dev
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          2 days ago

          China is expanding offensive capabilities, specifically geared towards amphibious invasion. They also publicly state that they will “unify” with Taiwan.

          Somehow I’m not as worried that Belgium is going to get any funny ideas when they buy a couple tanks. Gosh I wonder what the difference is…

          • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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            2 days ago

            If you know anything about China’s territory and history, you would understand quite well why they are investing in amphibious military tech. Read a book some time.

            • macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              “Read a book some time.” -Says the person who doesn’t read.

              You should just stop. You should have stopped long ago, but now you have removed all doubt. Now toddle off and let the adults converse.

                • CriticalThought@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Sorry if I’m being dense, but just to make sure: you’re saying China is preparing to protect itself from an upcoming Japanese invasion?

                  • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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                    1 day ago

                    Holy shit dude, I cannot possibly hold your hand through all of this. Educate yourself on HOW Japan has invaded China (backed by the US), and you will get your answers. Any country invading China will follow the same game plan. GOOD LUCK!

        • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldOP
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          2 days ago

          You know that everyone can check your profile and public post history right? all you do is shill for China with your 1 week old troll account. Go rake a gulag or smt tankie troll.

          • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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            You know you got out-debated when you gotta resort to this “I saw your profile” nonsense. Maybe sit this one out next time little fella. You are out of your depths here.

      • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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        Nooooo! Western propaganda isnt real! Only non-white countries have that! We are free thinkers here!

    • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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      Can I interest you in reading this old parable?

      The lesson is don’t tell lies, but also of note – THE WOLF DID COME.

      The Boy Who Cried Wolf

      There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, “Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!”

      The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces.

      “Don’t cry ‘wolf’, shepherd boy,” said the villagers, “when there’s no wolf!” They went grumbling back down the hill.

      Later, the boy sang out again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!” To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away.

      When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, “Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don’t cry ‘wolf’ when there is NO wolf!”

      But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more.

      Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!”

      But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn’t come.

      At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn’t returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping.

      “There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, “Wolf!” Why didn’t you come?”

      An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village.

      “We’ll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning,” he said, putting his arm around the youth, “Nobody believes a liar…even when he is telling the truth!”

      • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        …Wait, what do you think the point of the parable here is? Because it’s most definitely not “The wolf will eventually be coming, so you gotta believe the boy every time”.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        The lesson is don’t tell lies, but also of note – THE WOLF DID COME.

        I do love setting all my foreign policy on the plot line of an Aesop’s Fable.

        But, just out of curiosity, why is the wolf China? Isn’t the wolf typically aligned with Italy, Turkyie, or Estonia? Perhaps the moral of the story is that Europe plans to invade Taiwan. After all, its not called the “Boy who cried Dragon”.

        • Envy@fedia.io
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          2 days ago

          Swap China for Russia and you sound like every other tankie parrot leading up to the russian invasion of Ukraine.

          How many sock puppets are you on now btw?

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            Swap China for Russia

            I love that you think these two countries are interchangeable.

            How many sock puppets are you on now btw?

            Every single post you read that upsets you is authored by me, personally. That’s not just on Lemmy. It’s all me. It’s always all been me.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      China’s Possible Invasion of Taiwan – Part I: 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2023

      China’s Possible Invasion of Taiwan – Part II: 2025, 2030s, 2049, or 2050

      We are literally never going to hear the end of this.

      Edit: To all the losers and haters downvoting me, I’m linking to your boys at GlobalTaiwan.org. They’ve been screaming about China’s plot to conquer Taiwan for the last decade. You should love this shit. Why do these citations make you so sad and angry?

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I recall similar mockery when the Biden admin came out and said a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent. It’s far fetched alarmism, until it isn’t

        • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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          I mean, that’s correct, but then you’re agreeing this is, at this point, far fetched alarmism.

          The broken clock is correct twice a day, but it’s still useless as a timepiece.

        • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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          2 days ago

          This comparison would make sense if Biden was screaming about Russia invading Ukraine for decades first…

          • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            I might believe your hypothetical if Mexico was investing heavily in beach landing craft the same way the PLN is…

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              The island-hopping strategy that paved America’s way to Tokyo isn’t forgotten. China needs to defend some 7,200 islands off its coastline in the event the US decides to launch a first-strike. That means being able to retake territory they lose, which means needing landing craft to get them there.

              For some reason, American China-Watchers only recognize one island as possible contested territory when you’ve got whole archipelagos that rival militaries would compete to secure. That’s before you get to Chongming Island or Hainan Island, both pivotal to Chinese domestic security.

      • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Foreseeing military action based on anniversary dates could be too predictable, so there is an equal chance that China will avoid those years to maintain an element of surprise.

        Bro I am fucking dying reading this 🤣🤣

      • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        They been crying about this “very real plan” for decades now. It’s wild 😆

            • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldOP
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              I don’t think these are comparable. Taiwan is a modern country with military alliance with the US, its own modern military and very strong economic ties to the rest of the world. It’s much harder to annex. In fact if China could take Taiwan they’d show that they could take almost any other country in the world. None of your examples are even remotely close.

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                In fact if China could take Taiwan they’d show that they could take almost any other country in the world.

                If they could repatriate an island with a near-identical language and a large overlapping population and economy that’s within sight of their coastline then they could… what? Conquer Brazil or Finland or Saudi Arabia by main force?

                It simply doesn’t that that long to assemble an invasion force against a country squarely in your sphere of influence. Panama and Taiwan are very neat parallels, in fact. One might also point to Cuba, which the US has been occupying via Guantanamo Bay for nearly a century.

                None of your examples are even remotely close.

                China’s not lead by a C-list TV personality sock puppet for extractive industry, so that’s no surprise.

                But that’s half the joke. There’s no real plan to do a ground invasion into Taipei. The Beijing government’s plan to repatriate Taiwan is almost entirely economic. It follows the same strategy they successfully employed in Hong Kong and are replicating in Singapore and across the rest of the Pacific Rim.

                • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldOP
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                  1 day ago

                  Yes they could take anyone else and install a puppet ruler. Tibet much?

                  I don’t think China can take Taiwan through economic means. Taiwan is just too different from China and I say that as someone whos visited both several times (Taiwan is amazing btw). Despite shared language the cultures and people’s have very different identities and most importantly different goals, education profiles and alliances. Taiwan is as far from China as Ukraine is from Russia if not more.

                  The reason why China is supporting Russia because how similar Ukraine-Russia relationship is to their Taiwan problem. If you check out Chinese media you can see the experiments China is running and seeing what sticks and “zelenskyy is a war mongerer” is so successful that even remote peasants are full on it. Much more effective than any economic or cultural propaganda. I have no doubt China would love to use something like that for Taiwan and you need some form of physical war to get that.

                  Either way I certainly hope I’m wrong and you’re right. I live almost full time in south east asia now and war with Taiwan would have devastating effects on the region. I’d take economic influence over that any time especially because SEA keeps showing up being able to resist Chinese attacks again and again despite taking China’s money every time.

                  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                    1 day ago

                    Tibet much?

                    A region that’s been part of China for longer than Delaware has been a part of the United States.

                    Hell, the revolt against the Llama started in Tibet in 1949, when the Kashag dictatorship attempted a pogrom against all ethnic Chinese locals.

                    Tibet might have even more autonomy than it does now (and it’s got more internal freedom from Beijing than any American Commonwealth could ask from DC), if the old guard hadn’t tried to do an ethnic purge.

                    I don’t think China can take Taiwan through economic means

                    I guess we’ll see what happens following the next Wall Street crash. But when the AI bubble pops, that’s going to be hell on Taiwan’s most lucrative export.

                    The reason why China is supporting Russia because how similar Ukraine-Russia relationship is to their Taiwan problem.

                    You’ve pickled yourself with right wing propaganda. If Taiwan has any kind of peer relationship, it would be between the US and Cuba. Except China isn’t trying to suffocate Taiwan with an embargo.

                    But China and Taiwan haven’t been in a low grade shooting war for over a decade. Neither does Taiwan have a NATO equivalent that its threatening to join. And Taiwan isn’t in the process of arresting and deporting Chinese nationals in bulk (not that the more reactionary Taiwanese natives wouldn’t like to try).

                    you need some form of physical war to get that

                    You don’t need a physical war for Chinese loyalists to become the wealthiest residents of the island, as was the case in Hong Kong and is increasingly the case in Singapore.

                    That is the ultimate path to unification. China’s massive economic position will be used to buy out whatever remains of Taiwan’s Cold Warrior class.

                    The gapping hole in the Capitalist’s armor is the fact that everything is for sale, including sovereignty.

          • dogbert@lemmy.zip
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            2 days ago

            These headlines are not predictions for the future, they have been reporting on an “imminent invasion” for decades.