WAR RAFTS
Chilling pics show China’s giant D-Day style INVASION BARGES moored off coast as fears grow they could attack Taiwan
Scroll down to discover how the mega barges work
CHILLING pictures showing China's giant D-Day style invasion barges have fuelled fears that they are preparing to invade Taiwan.
The giant troop-carrying barges are capable of delivering fleets of tanks and thousands of troops directly onto Taiwanese roads.
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China is building at least five of the giant troop-carrying barges, according to satellite imagery and military sources.
The communist state is also building its largest ever aircraft carrier - capable of launching war jets from four runways at the same time.
The intensive work going on in Chinese shipyards suggests China is planning a massive amphibious assault.
Experts say the huge purpose-built barges resemble the floating Mulberry Harbours used by allied forces during the D-Day landings in June, 1944.
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The barges were spotted moored off the coast of Taiwan, and sparked new fears that China is preparing to invade Taiwan.
Bringing the self-governed province back in line with mainland China has been a goal of president Xi Jinping's for a long time and recent military activity has shown that China is ready to take it back by force.
The self-governing nation has been protected by the firepower of ally America for decades.
But alarm was spreading across Taiwan after Donald Trump sent mixed messages about continuing US support.
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The maverick commander-in-chief also announced plans to build mega factories in the US to halt his nation’s dependence on Taiwan's world leading semiconductor plants.
China's military production has now stepped up and analysts claim that the Chinese president has been emboldened by Trump’s apparent abandonment of Ukraine.
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This comes after Jinping issued a brutal New Year warning to Taiwan.
A swarm of fighter jets and warships were launched to circle and intimidate the island in October 2024.
A damaged deep-sea cable, off the coast of Taiwan in January, launched fears of potential Chinese sabotage.
A telecommunications cable was reportedly damaged near Yehliu, New Taipei City.
Officials believed the cable was cut near the busy port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast.
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Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
TAIWAN insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
But China claims Taiwan remains a part of its territory with which it must eventually be reunified - and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing's control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Taiwan sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to Washington's foreign policy in the region.
This also puts it in an ideal situation to slow a Chinese attack on the West.
And with tensions between the two nations high, Taiwan is likely to aid China's enemy if it means keeping its independence.
Taiwan's economy is another factor in China's desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world's electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but President Xi Jinping has also used threats towards the small island nation.
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