OSINT Suggests China Massing Equipment In Province Nearest to Taiwan
As Speaker Pelosi travels across Asia in the last several days, videos have emerged of the People’s Liberation Army moving ballistic missile systems and armoured fighting vehicles around the province of Fujian, adjacent to Taiwan and separated by only the Taiwan Strait.
Over the last few hours, as Open Source Intelligence analysts confirmed Speaker Pelosi’s transport is flying to Taipei Airport, there have also been reports that a foreign cyberattack has taken down several Taiwanese governmental websites.
TAIWAN: Several Taiwanese government websites appear to be down ahead of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's expected visit to the island. pic.twitter.com/1bhFtYaHdD
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) August 2, 2022
Joseph Wen, a Taiwanese OSINT researcher, has tweeted photos of a column of ZBD-08 combat vehicles at the port of Xiamen, only 15,6 kilometres away from a Taiwanese controlled island. A unit of DF-16 ballistic missile launchers have been reported under rail transport in Zejiang, with it being the closest DF-16 unit in the region. Similarly, railcars within the city of Xiamen have also been filmed transporting columns of tanks towards the beachhead.
該照片之拍攝地點位於福建廈門港口，距離我國最近領土大膽島之直線距離約15.6公里。
拍攝點座標：24.516838,118.084110
更多解放軍部署請參見：https://t.co/XNoEe2n6LK pic.twitter.com/jq913iZwuz— Joseph.W 約瑟 (@JosephWen___) August 2, 2022
有中國網友於福建拍到鐵路運輸DF-16導彈，該單位最有可能為火箭軍六十一基地617旅，駐地浙江金華，為距福建最近之裝備DF-16單位。
駐地座標：29.15165, 119.61536
DF-16射程約為1200-1500Km，可搭載核彈頭。
更多解放軍部署請參見：https://t.co/XNoEe2n6LK pic.twitter.com/nNGnbFEOc0— Joseph.W 約瑟 (@JosephWen___) August 2, 2022
Simultaneous to Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Asia, the United States Navy have deployed two America-class amphibious assault ships: USS America and Tripoli stationed around Japan’s southern waters north of Taiwan, and aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan at the northern tip of the Philipines. The Chinese Navy have, since 31 July, sent their two combat-ready carriers, the Shandong and the Liaoning, away from their homeports and sailing in the direction of Taiwan, with Researcher Duan Dang hypotheizing a potential dual-carrier exercise in the Taiwan Strait.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier left Qingdao on July 31, and the Shandong left Sanya on August 01. Are they going to conduct dual carrier operations in the Taiwan Strait? pic.twitter.com/HtNdhdVGQS
— Duan Dang (@duandang) August 2, 2022
In response of the visit, Chinese officials have, as previously reported, issued serious complaints regarding the arrangement, believing it to be a violation of their claims on the island and giving legitimacy to the current government of Taiwan and its population.
Taiwan’s military also recently completed a major anti-invasion exercise. Chinese state media, unburdened with diplomatic protocols, have made even more ergreious statements, calling for sending fighter jets to intercept and harass Speaker Pelosi’s flight, and shooting down the aeroplane if necessary. One government-associated Weibo account have posted a message of “Prepare for War”, garnering tens of thousands of likes on the Chinese social media site. The build up of Chinese forces and assets appears to be a wholesale effort to dissuade Pelosi’s visit.