China Prepping for Taiwan Invasion: Is War Imminent for United States?

Tensions are at an all-time high between China and Taiwan. While the media is all but ignoring the rapidly increasing risk of Sino-Taiwanese conflict or an outright invasion of the island nation, we contend that this evolving powder keg represents the greatest risk of not only regional armed conflict but of a sudden escalation into a global nuclear war that will involve the United States. Is a Sino-Taiwanese war—one that will necessarily involve US intervention—imminent? Let’s just say it may be time to double-down on your prepping!

As the world continuous to devolve into chaos and the new US-China cold war evolves, it is more critical than ever to be prepared. When (not if) things go South… they are going to head there very quickly! It will be sudden, and it will be cataclysmic.

Specifically, there are two areas of the world that currently pose a clear and present danger and, as such, demand our full attention: The Middle East and Taiwan. Either of these areas can trigger the next great war (and potentially both). However, the second area—China and Taiwan—is being largely ignored by the media.

We need to understand that Russia, Iran and Turkey are focused on the Middle East—namely, on Israel and Syria. The tension in this area is being ratcheted up by the Abraham Accords and, ultimately, this will lead to the biblical Gog and Magog war. For more on this developing risk, checkout our articles Abraham Accord Deception: Sudden Apocalyptic Consequences? and Abraham Accord—What Is God’s Perspective on Peace & Security???

However, at the same time, China is focused on Taiwan and the West (i.e., America). This represents a massive tinder box that is simply waiting for a spark to ignite an explosive conflict. While many are focused on the developing situation in the Middle East, they are perilously oblivious to the escalating danger posed by China’s malicious and nefarious intentions toward Taiwan.

Again, conflict is imminent in both regions. Either one could trigger the next great war. However, it is entirely possible that both of these landmines explode simultaneously—after all, we should not discount the potential for coordination between Russian and China given their strengthening coalition and emerging neo-axis of evil. It is worth considering that if they all moved simultaneously, it could overwhelm the ability of the West to effectively respond.

In this article, we want to focus on and explore the Sino-Taiwanese side of the risk coin, laying out a case for why you should be prepared for an imminent and, arguably, inescapable war—one that will inevitably involve the US and could easily go nuclear. We will start with an overview of the situation and then discuss current military actions by China and the US.

Chinese-Taiwanese Tensions Explode—The Big Picture

Taiwan has always been the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) highest strategic priority. China views Taiwan as its rightful territory—much like Hong Kong (and we’ve seen how that’s gone). Their desire to reestablish sovereignty over the wayward nation can be traced all the way back to its defection during the Chinese Civil War.

The emotions regarding Taiwan run deep and strong with China.

Make no mistake, the ongoing clashes along the Sino-Indian border are merely an intentional distraction—one right out of the Art of War playbook (written of course by the Chinese). It is a classic case of misdirection—a form of deception in which attention is drawn to one thing in order to distract from another. Keep your eye on the ball—Taiwan is and always has been China’s number one objective and target.

Taiwan is pivotal to Chinese national policy and prestige and represents a wide range of geo-economic strategic advantages—including the fact that it is a global center for computer chip manufacturing.

The tiny island nation is also critical to US and allied defense in the Western Pacific—specifically, maintaining the First Island Chain containment. Seizure of the island by China would put Japan and the Philippines (and US bases in the region) at much greater risk. In other words, the US would be compelled to become involved in defending the Taiwan by proxy (if not directly).

Add to this the fact that China is the new rising global power and America is the old global power in decline. We are on a collision course with China—they know it and we know it.

We are entering into a new and dangerous cold war—decoupling our economies and battling over the future world reserve currency.

Again, they are the rising superpower and are now at a point where they want and can project power in the region, but they also possess global capabilities.

America will be compelled to defend Taiwan… drawing us into armed conflict much like the Vietnam and Korean wars. Once that occurs, total destabilization will inevitably result.

However, unlike these prior conflicts, this destabilization is much more likely to result in an escalation to total war—meaning an EMP/nuclear outcome (with cyber warfare).

As we argued in our article US-China Tensions Escalate: Preemptive Sino-Russian Nuclear Strike Imminent? (which we highly encourage you to read), China now believes a nuclear conflict with the US is not only inevitable but is now survivable/winnable with a massive and overwhelming surprise first strike. And, this is not an empty belief. Rather, it is predicated on their growing offensive capabilities (including advanced EMP capabilities, massive cyber warfare advantages, hypersonic weapon technology, anti-satellite capabilities, and cutting-edge directed energy weapons), as well as extensive defensive infrastructure (bunkers and tunnel systems).

The potential for intentional or accidental escalation is extremely high.

Chinese Options for Taking the Taiwan Objective

The Pentagon has detailed the potential courses of action China could take with regards to Taiwan, including:

• An air and maritime blockade, accompanied by missile attacks and seizure of outlying Taiwanese islands
• Limited force or coercive operations, including limited kinetic attacks, assassinations, and cyber attacks
• Air and missile campaign against military targets
• Outright invasion

The most likely scenario is that China will employ a combination of all these strategies in a hybrid approach—moving from lower-risk steps to higher-risk ones based on outcomes.

Again, the potential for intentional or accidental escalation is extremely high and all courses of action will necessarily result in heightened responses from the US—drawing America into a conflict and expediting our collision course with China.

Deutsche Welle (DW) has put together an excellent documentary that examines what some of these options would look like… and what it would mean for Taiwan, the United States, and the world:

China Invasion of Taiwan—The Timing of Events

China is committed to taking back Taiwan and they fully realize that hopes for a diplomatic (albeit a coercive one) have all but faded.

They had a window of opportunity to achieve their goals without military intervention (as with Hong Kong); however, that window has been slammed shut as Taiwan has strengthened its resolve to resist—buoyed by the West rallying to their defense.

Thus, the only question for China is not do they transition to a military solution but, rather, when do they feel the time is right to strike.

Time has been their friend (allowing them to patiently ratchet up the pressure), but it has now become their enemy.

Taiwan is not an easy target to take militarily—it is a formidable challenge in terms of terrain and logistics. Now, the massive advantage they held in terms of military capabilities is being rapidly eroded and degraded by intervention by the West.

The US has just announced a huge sale of weapons to Taiwan—directly aimed at helping them prepare for an inevitable Chinese invasion.

Specifically, the White House notified US Congress Monday that it was planning to move ahead with the sale of three advanced weapon systems to Taiwan, according to a congressional aide, including the advanced High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

In a stern response from Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on Washington to “immediately cancel any arms sales plans to Taiwan” and cut all “US-Taiwan military ties.”

And Xi Jinping himself has refused to rule out military action to capture Taiwan, which China considers to be an integral part of their territory.

The Trump administration has previously approved several major arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $13 billion in total, including dozens of F-16 fighter jets, M1A2T Abrams tanks, portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and MK-48 Mod6 torpedoes.

The longer China waits to act… the harder it will get for them.

While they appear to be trying to wait until the US elections are complete (not wanting to provide any campaign ammunition for Trump), it is likely that they will act forcefully sooner rather than later… they simply can’t wait much longer.

What is unambiguous is that they have painted themselves in a corner—declaring to the world that they will restore Taiwan to their control. And Chinese (viz., CCP) pride will never allow them to back down from that declaration.

However, we know that China (who, again, wrote the book on the “art of war”) is a master chess player. As such, it is inconceivable that they accidentally or unintentionally allowed themselves to become positioned in a corner. Rather, this must be viewed as an intentional move. In other words, they fully accepted and embraced that a military invasion would likely be required before positioning themselves with their backs against the wall.

Should the pressure they have applied fail to deliver a diplomatic resolution (as appears to be the case), they were prepared and committed all along and to resort to military intervention—up to and including a Taiwanese invasion and war with America. That decision was made years ago—not after the fact.

This is not a bluff by the Chinese. In this high-stakes game of geo-political chicken, China is not going to swerve.

Regarding the weapons sale, Senior Col. Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, stated, “Those who play with fire are bound to get burned,” and warned the US and Taiwan against what Beijing calls “collusion.”

Thus, the stage is set… the fuse has been lit… and time is running out.

China Military Operations—Probing & Intimidating Taiwan

As further evidence of an impending escalation of force, one has only to look at recent Chinese military operations in the narrow Taiwan Strait.

China has conducted over 1,700 aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone so far this year, in addition to over a thousand naval sorties.

Why? The strategic purpose or intent behind such actions is three-fold:

• Probe Defenses—These incursions enable China to probe the Taiwanese defense system, including determining response times, units, and procedures, as well as related communication flows.
• Weaken Defenses—Each time the Taiwanese military is forced to respond, they incur operational and maintenance costs and attrition.
• Weaken Morale & Resolve—These incursions serve to wear down the resolve, alertness, and response times of Taiwanese military forces.

Why would you want to do this? To prepare for an invasion or significant military offensive.

Beijing has continued to increase military operations around Taiwan—including nearly 40 Chinese warplanes crossing the median line between the mainland and Taiwan on September 18-19 alone.

Again, they are intentionally probing Taiwanese defenses—seeking to both degrade their capabilities through attrition and wear them down emotionally and physically.

Richard Walker, writing for Deutsche Welle (DW), notes:

China’s aggressive military probing has been going on for years — an unending stress test for the democratic island it claims as its territory. But in 2020, the threat has taken on a new intensity. Over and over again, Taiwan has had to scramble fighters to intercept Chinese warplanes flying towards or even into Taiwan’s airspace.”

And Nathan Vanderklippe, writing for The Globe and Mail, reports:

More than three dozen Chinese fighter jets, bombers and antisubmarine patrol craft entered Taiwan’s air-defense identification zone from multiple directions in recent days, amid heated rhetoric from Chinese state media. In response, Taiwan scrambled jets numerous times and activated an air-defense missile system. On Monday, Chinese aircraft again entered Taiwanese airspace three times while a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft patrolled nearby, local media reported, as the risk of armed confrontation once again increases in the global flashpoint.”

The Chinese jets came within 68 kilometers of Taiwanese land—less than 2-3 minutes in terms of flying distance.

Furthermore, following the announced arms deals and increased US Navy presence in the Taiwan Strait, Joe Gould, writing for Defense News, noted that China had “released new footage showing a large-scale military exercise simulating an invasion.”

Minnie Chan, writing for the South China Morning Post, reports that military observers and sources have warned that Beijing is building up its forces along the southeast coast as it prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan—including deploying its most advanced hypersonic missile the Dongfeng-17 (DF-17) to the area.

The DF-17’s hypersonic armament gives China significant leverage over current conventional ABM’s due to the glide vehicle’s unpredictable ballistic trajectory. Officially unveiled at the National Day military parade on October 1, 2019, the road-mobile, medium-range, ballistic missile is China’s first operational hypersonic weapon systems and one of the world’s first to be put in full initial operation.

Chan adds that “the PLA Marine Corps—the only wing of the armed forces that has continued to grow during President Xi Jinping’s extensive overhaul of the military—has been earmarked to play a key role in any invasion and 10 of its 13 brigades are now based along the southeast coast.”

Is China just rattling its proverbial saber and flexing its muscles… or, as many experts warn, is it laying the typical groundwork for offensive military operations?

You can be your own judge… but I highly suggest making sure you’re properly prepared for anything—especially given what we’ve experienced in 2020 so far!

US Military Operations in the Taiwan Strait—Facing Off Against the Chinese Dragon

We’ve seen the Chinese side of the equation, but what about the US military?

The Navy destroyer USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992, transited through the Taiwan Strait last week—the tenth such transit by a US warship this year.

This followed on the heels of a similar passage by the destroyer USS John S. McCain on October 9—near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The Chinese military warned the USS McCain and demanded the ship depart the area—asserting that “such operations seriously infringe China’s sovereignty and national interest,” as well as “damage regional peace and stability.”

Chinese military spokesman Col. Zhang Chunhui stated, “We warn the U.S. to stop its words and deeds that provoke trouble and disturb the situation in the Taiwan Strait.”

The Chinese military has continued to assert that “China owns undeniable sovereignty of the islands in the South China Sea and nearby waters.”

And these destroyers are only a tiny piece of the growing projection of US power. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is now once again operating in the South China Sea—the third time during its current 2020 deployment.

The US 7th Fleet stated:

While in the South China Sea, the strike group is conducting maritime security operations, which include flight operations with fixed and rotary wing aircraft, maritime strike exercises, and coordinated tactical training between surface and air units.”

The US Pacific Fleet reported that Carrier Strike Group 5 (CSG 5)—the U.S. Navy’s only continuously forward deployed (and largest) carrier strike group—includes the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and the embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW 5), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54), and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS John S. McCain (DDG 56).

At the same time, state news agency Xinhua reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping called on his forces to “put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war… [to] maintain a state of high alert… [and to be] absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable.”

All of this serves to reinforce that there is currently a massive amount of multi-national forces operating in a very tight and emotionally-charged area—a recipe for disaster.

Conclusion

We are on the threshold of military conflict in the Taiwan Strait—conflict that will quickly spread beyond China and Taiwan to include the United States.

While many are downplaying the risks, the fact remains that this area has become a powder keg—one that will explode with the tiniest of sparks. When (not if) it does, it will quickly expand to a broader war between the US and China.

When you have folks that don’t particularly like or trust each other playing in a very small sandbox, it is inevitable that sparks will fly—accidentally or intentionally.

Furthermore, I would add that there is a high-degree of pride and arrogance with many of those who argue that the Sino-Taiwanese conflict poses little risk to the mighty United States. I would humbly propose that it would be wise to reflect on God’s Word, which describes a nation (America?) that will be suddenly destroyed in the last days:

And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.'” (Isaiah 47:7-8)

In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.'” (Revelation 18:7)

Pride always comes before the fall—and we have become foolishly arrogant and haughty.

The risk of Sino-Taiwanese armed conflict—including an outright invasion of the island nation—continues to grow exponentially… a conflict that will necessarily draw in the US and which could expand into a much broader and potentially catastrophic (nuclear) war.

Given the risks in this region, as well as in the Middle East, it would be wise to ensure that you are both spiritually and physically prepared! Continue to leverage the opportunities you have to upgrade your preps—don’t become complacent and take your foot off the gas!

Keep your eye on the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea… sudden escalation is imminent and likely.

To learn more about the threat posed by China and the potential for an imminent and catastrophic first-strike (involving cyber, EMP, and nuclear operations) on the United States, I encourage you to read our articles: US-China Tensions Escalate: Preemptive Sino-Russian Nuclear Strike Imminent? and Mystery Babylon—God’s Judgment on America Forthcoming?