Secret Chinese ship sparks questions about Taiwan invasion plans
Chinese shipyard builds mysterious vessel with aircraft carrier features in record time. Its small size and quick construction raise questions about Beijings preparations for Taiwan operations
In southern Chinaʼs Guangzhou shipyard a peculiar vessel has caught attention of military experts: Its just 650-feet long with a flat-deck design and twin-islands setup (which helps manage both navigation and flight ops)
The ship appeared alongside Chinaʼs larger Type-076 program - a full-size amphibious assault vessel thats being built to carry troops and aircraft. Other nations already use similar ships:
- US Navy operates 9 Wasp and America-class ships
- French navy has 3 Mistral vessels
- Australian navy maintains 2 Canberra ships
- Brazil bought HMS Ocean from UK about 6 years ago
Tom Shugart‚ ex-US Navy submariner spotted this odd ship in commercial photos; its construction speed is remarkable - workers finished hull and deck in just few months versus typical one-year timeframe
The vessels size doesnt make sense unless you consider one thing - China might expect losses during Taiwan operations. Taipeiʼs coastal defense includes:
* 400 Harpoon missiles on 100 mobile launchers
* Multiple Hsiung Feng anti-ship systems
* 25 radar installations
History shows ships vulnerability: about 2 years ago Ukrainian forces used just two missiles to sink Russian cruiser Moskva in Black Sea. The mystery vessel could be Chinas quick-build replacement strategy - or maybe its just a research ship (as some drawings suggest)‚ but either way it fits into broader military capabilities
The 100-mile Taiwan Strait crossing would put invasion ships at risk from missile attacks that are hard-to-spot and harder-to-stop; Chinese planners know this and seem to be preparing multiple options
