China Is Ready to Blockade Taiwan. Here's How.

Beijing's armed forces have bulked up and practiced isolating the island

- Joyu Wang & Austin Ramzy

China's armed forces are more ready than ever to surround the self-ruled island of Taiwan, cut it off from the world and try to squeeze it into submission.

A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be an act of war that sparks a global crisis. It would provoke a military response by Taiwan, force President Trump to decide whether the U.S. military should help defend the island, disrupt global trade and impel European nations to impose punishing sanctions on Beijing.

But the Chinese military, empowered by a decadeslong buildup and ordered by leader Xi Jinping to rapidly modernize by 2027, already has demonstrated what it can do. In increasingly complex exercises, Chinese forces have encircled Taiwan and simulated blockades.

The more that China prepares, the greater the risk that Beijing decides to shift without notice from drills to war. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and doesn't rule out the use of force to seize it.

A blockade is one of Xi's most powerful military options—short of an invasion, a steep challenge for the not-yet-battle-tested Chinese military—to induce the island to surrender to Beijing's authority.

China's military exercises provide clues about how Beijing would enforce a blockade. The Pentagon, military experts and monitoring by Taiwan fill out the picture of how it would take shape and the readiness of China's armed forces to carry it out.

China has many options—recent tabletop wargames led by Taiwan's president investigated around a dozen versions of a blockade or similar action, according to people who took part—but all share common features.

Here is how the U.S., Taiwan and independent experts suggest China's forces—from navy to civilian maritime militia—could work together to isolate Taiwan.