Chinese shipyards are constructing a new class of mobile piers that could enhance the nation's capabilities for a potential military maneuver to invade the island of Taiwan, Financial Times reported Friday, citing newly obtained satellite imagery that reveals significant advances in amphibious landing technology.
The satellite images, reviewed by the FT, show six barge-like vessels with extendable ramps being built at the state-operated Guangzhou Shipyard. These sophisticated vessels could facilitate the transport of heavy military equipment, including tanks and artillery, across mudflats or over seawalls onto firm ground, representing a major advancement in China's amphibious capabilities. China has long considered the island a renegade province since the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, which culminated with the victory of the communists led by Mao Zedong and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The nationalists, who had lost the war, settled in the island, but only a handful of countries recognize the island as an independent country. The two sides of the straits have managed to avoid an all out war over the past decades and have even established unofficial trade and tourist relations.
Since 2020, China's military has conducted amphibious landing exercises testing floating docks and causeways for unloading armored vehicles from ships and ferries, FT reported. However, the new vessels under construction represent a significant technological leap forward, featuring multiple pairs of pylons that resemble offshore oil rig legs – a design that suggests they can be securely anchored in coastal silt.
"The People's Liberation Army has probably come to the realization that those floating systems are too vulnerable to attack because they take too long to assemble, and also just can't handle heavy wind and waves as they have no stabilization," Michael Dahm, senior resident fellow for aerospace and China studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Washington and a former naval intelligence officer, told the FT.
The SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) facilities at Pudong district in Shanghai on March 15, 2024 (AFP / Hector Retamal)
The timing of this development is particularly notable, as it comes just weeks after China unveiled what the FT described as a new hybrid amphibious assault vessel – the largest of its kind globally – which military analysts have compared to a light aircraft carrier.
According to Chinese military academic papers cited by the FT, the People's Liberation Army's invasion strategy would initially target ports and airports to facilitate troop and equipment deployment. Beach landings would serve as an alternative if primary targets proved unsuccessful, requiring hundreds of thousands of soldiers to conquer and control the island.
The significance of these mobile piers becomes clearer when considering Taiwan's coastal defenses. Military experts told the FT that an amphibious invasion of Taiwan would rank among history's most challenging military operations. The island's coastline presents formidable natural barriers, with long stretches of cliffs, reefs, and rocks. The western seaboard, while flatter, is characterized by mudflats that could trap heavy equipment.
China is building at least five new special purpose barges which appear tailor made for amphibious assault. The barges may provide the PRC with a unique way to offload large numbers of tanks directly onto Taiwanese roads
By @CovertShores https://t.co/Je3K6BT3jG— Naval News (@navalnewscom) January 10, 2025
Technical specifications revealed in the satellite imagery underscore the scale of these new vessels. The largest model, featuring eight pylons, extends 183 meters in length with a ramp reaching an additional 128 meters, the FT reported. This design appears to address specific challenges identified by Chinese military researchers, who have highlighted the importance of stabilized landing gear in military logistics journals.
The vulnerabilities of floating systems were recently highlighted by a significant failure in humanitarian operations. The US attempt to deliver aid to Gaza via a floating pier collapsed after just 20 days when waves damaged and ultimately destroyed the specially built $230 million structure, FT reported. This incident, according to Dahm, likely reinforced Chinese military planners' concerns about the limitations of floating systems.
Chinese military researchers have consistently emphasized these concerns in recent years, publishing multiple papers in military logistics journals about the critical importance of stabilized landing gear and the inherent weaknesses of floating systems, the FT noted.
However, military experts interviewed by the FT emphasized that significant challenges would remain even with these new capabilities. Taiwan's western plains present a complex battlefield environment, densely packed with paddy fields, fish ponds, and urban development, with major roads often difficult to access from the shore.
Lin Ying-yu, assistant professor at Taiwan's Tamkang University Graduate Institute for International Affairs and Strategic Studies, stressed the importance of early defensive measures. "It is their large amphibious assault ships, their helicopters and airborne forces that we must be able to target," Lin told the FT. "It is like in baseball. They may have chosen a very good closer, but if we fight well in the first wave, that skill will not come to bear."
The Chinese defense ministry did not respond to the FT's requests for comment, leaving questions unanswered about the intended deployment timeline and specific capabilities of these new vessels.
