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fullscreen Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP
China has built a replica of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
There they conduct military exercises with bomber flights and now experts are warning of the threat to Taiwan.
“China is planning a full-scale invasion,” writes China expert Julien Hoez at X.
In the desert of Inner Mongolia, China has built a replica of the government quarters in Taipei. It shows satellite images published on X by Taiwanese defense analyst Joseph Wen.
A map comparison shows how the capital’s central road network has been recreated in the middle of the wasteland.
The replica is also located in a military area where the Chinese conduct aerial bombardment training and gunnery exercises.
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fullscreen Satellite images show how China built its replica. Published by Taiwanese Defense Analyst. Photo: X/Joseph Wen
Planning an invasion
The pictures of the training field have also been noticed by the French China expert Julien Hoez, who is now warning of an invasion.
“It’s an exact copy of the road network near Taiwan’s presidential palace,” he writes on X and continues:
“China is planning a full-scale invasion of Taiwan in a geopolitical game that destabilizes the region”.
Not first replica of Taipei
It is unclear when the area was built, but it has been around since at least December 2022, according to the site Business Insider.
It is also not the first time that the Chinese have created a replica of the Taiwanese capital. In 2014 and 2015, state broadcaster CCTV showed footage of troops conducting military exercises against a replica of the presidential palace in Taipei, according to the paper Diplomat.
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fullscreenTaiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Photo: Chiang Ying-Ying/AP