China is building landing barges which could be used to transport tanks and troops for a full-scale invasion of Taiwan, defence analysts have warned.
As many as five of the vessels have reportedly been observed at Guangzhou, with each of the huge barges taking just a few months to complete.
They have been in development since 2022 but the larger barges have only appeared recently, according to Naval News, whose analysis first brought to light this build-up of maritime capabilities earlier this year.
Now footage shared on Chinese social media shows what appears to be one of the ships in action, with its bridge connected to a beach.
Each barge is said to be fitted with a 400ft road extended out from the front, long enough to span over a beach onto a hard surface or coastal road for easy access.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been rapidly building up its capabilities over the past decade, with assault ships and eight Type 071 landing docks used to haul soldiers and supplies added to its armada.
As it stands, the Chinese navy’s amphibious flotilla could be capable of transferring up to 6,000 soldiers in a single movement, The Telegraph reports.
But analysts have suggested that the number of troops needed to guarantee victory in Taiwan could be around two million, and the building of new ships could be one way to expand its capacity.
Pictures shared on Chinese social media appear to show a barge with a long connecting bridge
The Chinese army takes part in a live practice drill in Zhangzho province
The PLAN is also bolstering its forces through a mandate – The National Defence Transportation Law of 2017 – which dictates that all of China’s transport infrastructure, including ships, be made available for military use if requested.
Dr Emma Salisbury, Sea Power Research Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, said in January that she expected to see a build-up of ships ‘as preparation for an invasion, or at least to give China the option as leverage.’
The analyst told Naval News: ‘China is constructing a huge fleet of dual-use ships – commercial vessels that could be easily requisitioned for military use when needed.
‘These include in particular roll-on/roll-off ships that would be perfect for transporting military vehicles – and have indeed been built with military specs in mind.’
Since the 2017 law was passed, naval engineers been modifying ships to make them more adept for warfare.
Measures have reportedly included the reinforcement of ramps on car ferries so they can transfer heavier vehicles, but to connect these to a beach rather than a dock for the purposes of an invasion still requires a bridge.
The barges appear to work by beaching itself on sand, locking the end of the bridge to dry land, allowing other ships to pull up to it, drop their ramps and offload vehicles to get them to shore.
Complete with long road bridges, the barges are said to be reminiscent of the Mulberry Harbours used by the Allied forces during the Normandy landings in World War Two.
China’s president Xi Jinping says he wants to be in a position to invade Taiwan by 2027
Taiwanese soldiers with machine guns train during an Army Preparedness Enhancement Drill ahead of the Chinese New Year, amid escalating Chinese tensions to the island
They have also been compared to the the US military’s Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system, or JLOTS, a system which the Biden administration proposed to use to deliver aid to Gaza.
Its success was blighted by a combination of bad weather in the eastern Mediterranean and lack of security on land.
Taiwan only has a small number of beaches which would be suitable for amphibious landings, each of which would be heavily defended.
Beijing considers the self-governed island as part of its own territory and has not ruled out utilising military force to claim it.
Taiwan’s authorities have received increasing pressure from China in recent years by way of military drills and persistent dispatch of fighter jets and naval vessels around the island.
The Chinese military vowed in recent days to tighten its ‘noose’ around Taiwan if separatism on the island escalates and warned independence advocates to step back from the ‘precipice’.
And a global tensions have been soaring in recent weeks, Beijing announced a 7.2 per cent increase to its 2025 defence budget last week.
