Attack on Taiwan’s outlying islands among China’s possible moves: Experts

From a small-scale attack by China to take over one of Taiwan’s outlying islands to a full-scale invasion by its air, land and navy units to reunify Taiwan by force.

- Katherine Wei

Defence experts on the island have hashed out some possibilities of China’s military plans, amid high tensions over a visit to Taiwan by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week.

For either side, Taiwan’s outlying islands – including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu – that lie between its main island and China would be crucial when an invasion happens.

Chinese drones were seen flying over the Kinmen islands, an archipelago near China’s Fujian province, last week, said media reports.

Mr Chieh Chung, an analyst at the Association of Strategic Foresight, said: “The drones may have been collecting intel to prepare for an attack on the outlying islands. A possible scenario is China dispatching troops to disable Taiwan’s forces stationed on these islands first so that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers face less damage when taking the main island.”

Independent military analyst Wang Li said: “One possible scenario is to capture Taiwan’s outlying islands like Kinmen. China is certainly capable of achieving that. Then, they may hold soldiers hostage and pressure Taiwan into surrendering out of fear.”