China Conducts Landing Across the Taiwan Strait

China is conducting two days of military exercises, using a combination of civilian and military ships to land troops on the ground.

Transcript

00:00Taiwan is monitoring Chinese military aircraft, drones and warships that are all taking part

00:06in drills just 350 kilometers west of Taiwan's main island here in Dacheng Bay, which is

00:12near China's Fujian province.

00:15These military exercises are part of a planned two-day drill, which simulate how China would

00:21move equipment and troops from warships that are stationed out here in the Taiwan Strait

00:26and practice how to move these troops inland and land on the beach.

00:31This is concerning for Taiwan because Beijing has threatened to invade Taiwan, which it

00:35claims is part of its territory.

00:37What's interesting about this drill is the use of these ships, which are known as roll-off,

00:44roll-on vessels.

00:45These are also known as row-rows.

00:47These are civilian ferries which carry people, cars, equipment and shipping containers filled

00:52with goods.

00:54Because they're so easy to roll on and roll off, there is a concern that China's military

00:59might use these ferries to maximize its ability to bring troops and equipment onto the beach.

01:06Now, earlier I spoke to Derek Grossman, he's a security analyst with the RAND Corporation

01:11based in Los Angeles, and he says that these row-rows could play a big challenge for Taiwan's

01:16military.

01:17China is constantly trying to improve its military capabilities to attack or invade

01:26Taiwan.

01:27And so the row-rows are definitely a part of that.

01:31This is an amphibious landing capability that they are trying to perfect.

01:38And that is something that we're obviously keeping a close watch on.

01:43Now experts here in Taiwan recently said that China doesn't quite have the ability

01:47to invade and land troops on a beach just yet, but that these drills are part of Beijing's

01:52push to get to that point.

01:54And so what Taiwan's military is doing is just keeping on the lookout and monitoring

01:57those exercises so it can adapt its own defenses and manage those threats that it's seeing

02:02across the Taiwan Strait.