How China could sleepwalk into its ‘own Vietnam War’ with Taiwan invasion as it faces kill zones and 500,000 fighters

FEARS about a Chinese invasion of Taiwan have been mounting and on the face of it the odds are stacked against the island. On paper China’s military dwarfs that of Taiwan but a closer look reveals how kill zone beaches, hostile terrain and a 500,000 strong guerrilla army could inflict a Vietnam style humiliation on Beijing. China regards Taiwan as being part of its territory and has vowed to reunite the island with the mainland, by force if necessary. In recent days, China sent a record number of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, in drills widely seen as part of invasion rehearsals.   In order to successfully capture the island, China would have to ship an enormous number of troops, plus their supplies, across the 80 mile Taiwan Strait. The operation would be the largest amphibious operation in human history, easily surpassing the scale of the D-Day landings. But when they arrive on Taiwan, the Chinese will have to get past defences far stronger than those faced by the Allies in WWII and significant natural obstacles. Taiwan has a rugged coastline with steep cliffs making only 13 beaches suitable for landing, which have been booby trapped mines and other hidden obstacles. 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Chinese forces face several miles of “razor wire nets, hook boards, skin-peeling planks, barbed wire fences, wire obstacles, spike strips, landmines, anti-tank barrier walls, anti-tank obstacles … bamboo spikes, felled trees, truck shipping containers, and junkyard cars”, he said. The landing sites are crisscrossed hardened supply depots to allow defenders to holdout against invasion forces. There are also large numbers of mobile anti-ship missiles ready to pick off Chinese vessels. Easton calls the date of a future Chinese invasion of Taiwan Z-Day, the term Winston Churchill used when talking about a potential Nazi invasion of England that never happened when Germany lost the Battle of Britain. He fears China’s President Xi Jinping’s sabre rattling could lead him sleepwalk into an invasion. “If he is sane, Xi Jinping will think hard before ordering an attack on Taiwan and realize how quickly events could spin out of his control,” said Easton. If he is sane, Xi Jinping will think hard before ordering an attack on Taiwan and realize how quickly events could spin out of his control Ian Easton “But can we really trust a dictator who stands accused of genocide to act in a rational manner? That seems unwise.” The landings occurred in rural France along a relatively flat, 50 mile beachfront and nor will the Chinese have an element of surprise, as the allies had, he wrote in The Diplomat. Taiwan will have 60 days warning giving civilian and military leaders plenty time to move to nuclear proof mountain bunkers to keep co-ordinating resistance. If Chinese forces do manage to make it ashore they Chinese troops who make it ashore would face roughly 175,000 highly trained full-time soldiers. There are also 500,000 fully trained reservists ready to resist any attempt at occupation, using bunkers honeycombing the hills as cover from which to attack the invaders. Taiwan recently unveiled a radical overhaul of its defence strategy that sees its troops switching from conventional tactics to guerrilla warfare. KILLING ZONES That offers the prospect of China becoming bogged down in a costly and prolonged Vietnam-style war. Roads from beaches to the capital has been painstakingly mapped with each step of the Chinese route booby-trapped and ambushes prepared, reports Foreign Policy. Chinese war manuals warn soldiers that skyscrapers and rock outcrops will have steel cords strung between them to entangle helicopters Tunnels, bridges, and overpasses will be rigged with munitions, to be destroyed only at the last possible moment. “Building after building in Taiwan’s dense urban core will be transformed into small redoubts meant to drag Chinese units into drawn-out fights over each city street,” said Easton. “Taiwan’s all-out defence strategy encompasses police officers, firefighters, airline personnel, bulldozer operators, construction workers, truck drivers, bus drivers, fishing boat crews, doctors, nurses, and many others. “By law, pretty much anyone with a useful wartime skill could be pressed into national service.” AFPTaiwanese forces practising repelling a Chinese invasion[/caption] GettyTaiwan has rugged terrain from which its forces will fight guerrilla[/caption] GettyBeaches have been heavily fortified[/caption] AFP - GettyThe Hsiung Feng III mobile anti-ship missile[/caption] We pay for your stories! 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