China’s New Class of Rapidly Built Ships: Gearing Up for War?

The Chinese Navy “appears to be gearing up to invade someone,” the Telegraph wrote on November 7. The assessment is based partly on new satellite imagery showing a vessel under construction in a Chinese shipyard in Guangzhou.

• The vessel is similar to an assault ship with a large, flat deck with areas for navigation and directing flight operations, but it is much smaller.
• It appears to be the first in a new line of assault ships that can be built rapidly and inexpensively.
• Builders completed the ship’s deck and hull in only a few months—remarkably fast in shipbuilding terms.
• Experts believe it could be used to carry hundreds of troops and many aircraft.

Taiwan invasion? The Telegraph speculated that the new line of ships is being built for the express purpose of invading Taiwan, making it possible to quickly replace China’s more expensive and labor-intensive Type 075 and Type 076 assault ships.

[Maybe] Chinese officials anticipate losing a lot of ships in any attempt to land troops in Taiwan—and they’re planning in advance to replace sunk or damaged Type 075s and Type 076s with smaller assault ships they can build fast and cheap. Or they may want to add numbers to their invasion fleet as quickly as possible. … [I]t may be China’s answer to the severe losses its invasion forces would probably sustain, mounting an assault through a hail of missiles.

Belligerent bully: The rapid construction of this new class of big-deck ships is occurring amid growing tensions in the region. These tensions stem largely from China’s illegal claims on Taiwan as its territory and its repeated threats to annex the nation—by force if necessary.

The Trumpet said: Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has said since 1998 that this democratic island nation will be “forced into the Chinese mold.” Watch as China’s takeover of this region continues to push the world toward war.

Learn more: Read “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”