Five miles off Taiwan’s coast, ZTD-05 amphibious vehicles roll out of ships and zip over the water amid a hail of artillery fire. The Chinese soldiers inside have their orders: Seize the beach, or die trying.
Close by, China’s airborne troops are taking losses. They arrived before dawn in low-flying Y-20 aircraft to seize Taoyuan Airport. Taiwanese defenders downed several planes. The paratroopers that landed, scattered, are in a race to assault the airfield before Taiwan wrecks it.
This hypothetical battle scenario imagines a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, as militaries, policymakers and wargamers are doing. An amphibious invasion would be one of the toughest military operations to execute. And an all-out war would be extremely bloody, devastate the global economy and change the course of the 21st century.
Whether Beijing will try to conquer the democratically governed island by force is the biggest geopolitical unknown facing the world. A close second: How the U.S., Taiwan’s main defense partner, would respond.
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/how-china-chinese-invasion-taiwan-ba7e3916?mod=djem10point
