China has been making noise about Taiwan for a long time. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is the be-all and end-all of decision-makers in China, has been in the habit of referring to Taiwan as a “rogue province” for years, implying that, at some point, they are going to try to take Taiwan back.
Now satellite overheads have been revealed by Business Insider which appear to show mock-ups in the Inner Mongolian desert of some of the important government districts in Taipei – Taiwan’s capital city – along with what appear to be models of specific government buildings. It’s hard to imagine any reason for this other than military training with an eye toward an eventual assault on these districts.
Out in the desert at a military training site, China has built a mock-up of a key area of Taiwan’s capital city where the presidential office and other government buildings are located, satellite images show.
The mock-up, like others before it, seems to indicate China’s intentions and focus, though its use is uncertain.
Images of the mock target, located in the desert in the Alxa League area of northern China’s Inner Mongolia, began circulating on social media earlier this week. Taiwanese defense analyst Joseph Wen posted the satellite image, as well as a map comparison of the real area in Taipei, on Monday.
朱日和的是總統府，但這次內蒙古阿拉善左旗的佈景，準確來說是博愛特區，不過性質似乎不同，阿拉善的比較像炸射靶場。 https://t.co/ESWXMwthKg pic.twitter.com/kymsQJgaRH
— Joseph.W 約瑟 (@JosephWen___) March 26, 2024
In my own military days, we used something called a “sand table” when issuing orders to describe what the terrain we would be moving over looked like, how we would be approaching an objective, how any movement to contact would take place, and how we would get the H out of Dodge when it was over. A sand table was just what it sounded like: a layer of sand or earth that we could play with to model terrain, buildings, and so on.
These overheads appear to show a sand table writ large, and it’s very difficult to see any reason for going to the trouble and expense to make these unless they will be used in training exercises – the purpose of those exercises being practice for the eventual invasion of Taiwan, including an attack on these areas.
China has been increasingly bellicose recently and has been caught out trying to recruit intelligence assets within the United States. They have been successful at doing so, including implicating at least one member of Congress.
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This isn’t the first time China has been observed preparing for and conducting exercises in mocked-up areas like this.
Back in 2014 and 2015, satellite images showed the other mock-up of Taiwan’s presidential office at Zhurihe, also in Inner Mongolia, and a video broadcast by CCTV in July 2015 captured Chinese troops practicing an assault on the fake building, The Diplomat reported at the time.
The office mock-up was a convincing replica. Imagery from China-based web portals showed troops entering the building conducting some sort of raid.
China has had its eye on Taiwan for generations, essentially since Taiwan (more properly known as the Republic of China) split off from the Communist-ruled mainland in 1949. It’s hard to imagine a future in which the People’s Republic of China, ruled by the CCP, won’t try to forcibly retake the Republic of China. The weakness of the current United States leadership may well be encouraging them to step up their efforts; these training areas may be evidence of that.
