ROBERT MAGINNIS: 9 signs Beijing's Taiwan invasion may be imminent

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a stark informing Saturday astatine the Shangri-La Dialogue information league successful Singapore: China’s subject is "rehearsing for the existent deal," and a full-scale penetration of Taiwan "could beryllium imminent."

"We are not going to sugarcoat it – the menace China poses is real," helium added.

CHINA LAUNCHES LARGE MILITARY DRILLS AROUND TAIWAN TO ISSUE 'SEVERE WARNING'

Beijing swiftly rejected the allegation. Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, caput of the Chinese delegation and vice president of China’s National Defense University, called the remarks "groundless accusations," stating that "some of the claims are wholly fabricated, immoderate distort facts and immoderate are cases of a thief crying ‘stop thief.’" Despite specified denials, a increasing assemblage of grounds suggests China whitethorn so beryllium preparing for a subject determination against Taiwan.

Taiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu, Taiwan's President William Lai and Taiwan's Defense Minister Wellington Koo airs for photos with soldiers arsenic they sojourn the troops during the Rapid Response Exercise astatine the Songshan subject airbase successful Taipei connected March 21, 2025.   (Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images)

Numerous indicators gully this conclusion. Here are nine:

1. China has intensified its joint oversea and aerial exercises surrounding Taiwan, including rehearsals simulating blockades, encirclements, and amphibious assaults. These drills intimately reflector operational strategies that would apt beryllium employed successful an existent penetration and are wide interpreted by analysts arsenic factual signals of Beijing’s willingness to usage force.

2. The Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) has positioned H-6 bombers, susceptible of delivering atomic payloads, connected outposts specified arsenic Woody Island successful the South China Sea. These platforms importantly widen China’s onslaught capableness and service arsenic strategical messaging to some Taipei and Washington.

China's President Xi Jinping could beryllium readying an onslaught connected Taiwan. (REUTERS/Adriano Machado)

3. China continues to behaviour gray-zone operations aka non-kinetic forms of coercion, including cyberattacks connected Taiwan’s infrastructure, disinformation campaigns, and illegal incursions by maritime militia vessels. Though these actions autumn beneath the threshold of unfastened warfare, they are designed to deterioration down Taiwan’s defenses and destabilize the region. 

4. According to U.S. quality assessments, Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the PLA to beryllium susceptible of launching an penetration of Taiwan by 2027. While not a confirmed deadline for action, it has catalyzed PLA modernization, emphasizing associated unit integration and amphibious readiness. 

5. China’s strategical enlargement in Latin America – particularly done Belt and Road investments and attempts to power cardinal nodes specified arsenic the Panama Canal bespeak broader ambitions to task planetary powerfulness and encircle U.S. interests. These moves indirectly enactment Taiwan-related ambitions by distracting oregon overextending U.S. effect capabilities.

6. Recent PLA exercises person incorporated civilian ferries susceptible of transporting tanks and personnel—suggesting preparations for amphibious operations connected Taiwan’s shores. The dual-use quality of these assets allows China to disguise subject buildup nether the guise of civilian activity.

A China Coast Guard vessel passes adjacent the seashore of Matsu islands of  Taiwan connected Monday, Oct. 14.  (Taiwan Coast Guard/AP)

7. Beijing has intensified its governmental communicative astir "reunification," including authorities media coverage, acquisition reforms, and speeches by apical Chinese officials. These ideological signals often precede subject enactment successful authoritarian regimes.

8, China has rapidly expanded its coastal infrastructure, including caller docks, airstrips, and logistics hubs successful Fujian Province—directly crossed the Taiwan Strait. Satellite imagery suggests these assets are optimized for a cross-strait operation.

9. Chinese combatant jets and warships person entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) astatine unprecedented levels. In aboriginal 2025 alone, PLA craft breached Taiwan’s ADIZ implicit 1,200 times, prompting elevated readiness levels successful Taipei.

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The question of whether China volition invade Taiwan is nary longer hypothetical but a substance of timing and hazard calculus. While Beijing continues to contradict assertive intent, the grounds suggests a sustained and deliberate subject buildup with the intent to compel reunification—if not peacefully, past by force. 

Hegseth’s informing reflects not alarmism, but a sober appraisal of escalating realities. These indicators—military drills, strategical deployments, governmental rhetoric, and infrastructure mobilization—align with humanities precedents for pre-invasion posturing.

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The planetary assemblage indispensable instrumentality this menace seriously. Strengthening deterrence, improving quality sharing, and reinforcing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities are captious to avoiding a determination catastrophe. For the United States and its allies, readiness is nary longer optional—it is simply a strategical imperative.

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