America is actively preparing for war with China over growing fears of Taiwan invasion – and crucial piece of kit that could decide conflict hasn’t even been built

The US military is actively preparing for war with China due to growing fears of an invasion of Taiwan.

Marines from the US and the Philippines have carried out ominous war games on small islands a short distance from Taiwan, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The exercises included deploying teams of Marines from Chinook helicopters, readying unarmed assault rifles and reconnaissance of terrain that would hypothetically be used if a conflict broke out.

The developments provide a disturbing glimpse into the perspective of U.S. military leaders as the hostile nation continues to threaten to invade Taiwan. Any direct conflict between the US and China could easily culminate in World War III, with both countries having nuclear weapons that could destroy the planet.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made no secret of his desire to “reunify” Taiwan with mainland China, but has left his rivals in the dark about when he might launch a surprise attack.

Taiwan, a successful democracy, says it has no desire to be part of China. The US has not formally said it will defend Taiwan if China invades, but President Biden has indicated he would deploy US troops to defend the island in the event of an attack.

Recently, China has taken numerous steps that indicate it is preparing for an invasion, including just two days ago when the Chinese military surrounded Taiwan.

Beijing said the war games were a “strong punishment” for Taiwan after the inauguration of its new president, Lai Ching-te, with analysts seeing it as yet another blatant display of China’s military prowess.

With this threat looming, the Wall Street Journal joined the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment as it trained in the Philippine Islands, its fourth trip to the region.

The regiment was formed just two years ago to reform the US military presence in the region and has made preparations in the Hawaiian Islands and California.

U.S. troops gained access to several Philippine military bases last year and the training exercises were conducted further north on a series of islands about an hour from Taiwan.

However, the war games have reportedly found one important conclusion: the US military needs ships to move Marines between islands in the South China Sea, which haven’t even been built yet.

Although the training exercises did not involve actual bullets or missiles, the Marines prepared for what would happen if war broke out, including abandoning the Chinook helicopters and fanning out across the islands as quickly as possible.

Moving around quickly and stealthily would be key to avoiding the Chinese sensors and drones, which Col. John Lehane says “complicate” the rival’s decision-making.

U.S. forces hope that a series of quick, agile moves from location to location will strain China’s military capacity and possibly buy time until further reinforcements arrive.

“(China would) spend an awful lot of resources trying to figure out where we are and what we’re doing,” he said.

With stealth and agility the priority for the Marine regiment, Lehane said the U.S. military is “constantly refining the balance of what is the lightest package I can put there to reduce the logistical burden while ensuring the fight is credible and is able to fight. .’

U.S. military leaders have sent at least four missions to the Philippines in recent months, with stealth and agility on scattered islands in the South China Sea a top priority.

U.S. and Philippine Marines wait at the airport of the Philippines’ northernmost city of Itbayat, Batanes province, during a joint military exercise on Monday, May 6, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made no secret of his desire to reunify Taiwan with mainland China, but has left his rivals in the dark about when he might launch a surprise attack.

The outbreak of direct conflict with China would amount to a world war for many observers, despite the fact that Beijing would have a significant advantage fighting in its own backyard.

President Biden has routinely said he would defend Taiwan if China launched an unprovoked attack, but carrying out a conflict across the region’s various terrains would be much more challenging in practice.

Some islands in the South China Sea are equipped only with small helicopter pads, roads cannot connect many coastal areas prone to fighting, and China would be fighting near most of its military arsenal.

The Marines trained specifically for the early stages of the war and were reportedly tasked with delaying a possible Chinese invasion so that other U.S. forces could prepare.

Using small drones and sensors, the Marines would be able to see the rest of the army in the front row while firing a barrage of missiles at the Chinese army.

Deploying a small, secret group of Marines to the front would serve as a tactical base in the event of war, Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the WSJ.

‘Ideally you have fluid forces flowing up and down the first island chain, so you’re constantly forcing [China] to look for you,” he said.

“Any sensor that China orders to search for a coastal Marine Corps regiment is a sensor that is not aimed at any other target.”

Jensen added that the idea would be to impose a “huge burden” on China’s vast intelligence apparatus, and that ideally “you want them to go on a wild goose chase.”

China routinely conducts war games in the region, pictured here firing a missile during a training exercise in mainland China in August 2022

U.S. Marines wear equipment during a joint military exercise in the Philippines on May 6, 2024

Since China has a significant territorial advantage in the region, island hopping would be seen as an essential technique to combat China’s potential invasion.

During the recent war games in the Philippines, teams flew to three small islands north of the country, in an area known as the Luzon Strait.

In the event of all-out war, the islands would be at the center of the conflict, and the islands’ war games are a sign that American military leaders could see this as a possibility.

Lt. Col. Mark Edgar, who helped oversee the training, said the exercises are primarily intended to gather data and help anticipate, and that regiments “conduct assessments on the islands all the time.”

“Everything from what those runways can support to what a port can support to what a beach can support,” he added.

The teams’ work included everything from measuring roads to the amount of fuel they burned, to efforts that took them to the northern tip of the islands, in full view of Taiwan.

For an uncertain conflict, Edgar concluded, “Nothing replaces putting a Marine on the ground and actually looking at that terrain.”