Taipei [Taiwan], January 11 : China is reportedly building a fleet of specialised barges with road bridges or piers extending from the bow designed to facilitate the unloading of tanks and other military equipment, sparking concerns for 'putative invasion of Taiwan', according to Taiwan News.
Three to five of these barges are being built at the Guangzhou Shipyard International (China State Shipbuilding Corporation) on China's Longxue Island, Taiwan News reported citing a report by Naval News, an online publication in Europe.
The vessels feature extended road bridges, estimated to be up to 120 meters long, allowing them long enough to "reach a coastal road or hard surface beyond a beach" adding that the "aft ends of the barges have platforms that allow other ships to dock and unload."
Experts believe these features are not suited for commercial use, drawing comparisons to the barges built by the Allies for the Normandy landings during World War II, as per Taiwan News.
According to defence analyst Damien Symon, the barges seemed designed to dock with dual-purpose civilian ferries, which would be used in a putative invasion of Taiwan.
Citing "multiple sources," the report said the barges would give China the ability to land tanks and military forces at places that were previously considered unsuitable. This would be a game changer as Taiwan would be prepared to defend ports and similar sites.
"Instead of relying on Taiwanese ports, China can now sail its own mobile port across the straits," the article concludes.
Notably, the Taiwan-China issue is a complex and longstanding geopolitical conflict centred on Taiwan's sovereignty. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), operates its own government, military, and economy, functioning as a de facto independent state.
However, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and insists on the "One China" policy, which asserts that there is only one China, with Beijing as its capital.
This has fuelled decades of tension, especially since the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), when the ROC government retreated to Taiwan after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, took control of mainland China.
Beijing has consistently expressed its goal of reunification with Taiwan, using diplomatic, economic, and military pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally. Meanwhile, Taiwan, supported by a significant portion of its population, continues to maintain its independence.
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