TAIPEI, Taiwan – China’s construction of “special-purpose barges” has raised concerns about its plans to invade Taiwan, with analysts warning that the vessels could enable Beijing’s rapid troop deployment onto Taiwanese soil, addressing challenges posed by the self-ruled island’s often rough, difficult-to-navigate waters.
At least five of the huge barges have been spotted under construction at Guangzhou Shipyard International, or GSI, on China’s Longxue Island, a facility known for producing unconventional vessels, according to the Naval News defense and technology publication.
A barge is a long flat-bottomed boat for carrying freight on canals and rivers, either under its own power or towed by another.
“I would interpret these barges as another signal that Xi Jinping and the CCP are indeed serious about annexing Taiwan and that the use of force to do so very much remains on the table,” Michael Hunzeker, associate director of the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University, told Radio Free Asia, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
The barges feature unusually long road bridges – spanning more than 120 meters (393 feet) – that extend from their bows, Naval News reported.
This design allows them to reach coastal roads or hard surfaces beyond beaches, enabling efficient offloading of trucks and tanks from ships.
Some barges are equipped with “jack-up” pillars, which can be lowered to provide a stable platform in adverse weather.
Chieh Chung, a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight in Taiwan, told RFA that China had spent more than 20 years enhancing its capability of “pier-free unloading.”
“China intends to develop a comprehensive set of technologies that allow forces to quickly unload onto Taiwanese soil, whether at heavily damaged ports or standard beachheads,” he said.
Chieh said that previously, China’s pier-free unloading, primarily featuring floating bridges and artificial piers, had faced problems in exercises since its operations are heavily restricted in rough seas.
“The waters around Taiwan are often rough and difficult to navigate,” he said.
“However, the ships being constructed in Guangzhou are flat-bottomed, which allows them to operate closer to shore. Additionally, the road bridges are supported by pillars, which help mitigate issues caused by rough sea conditions,” he said.
Beijing regards Taiwan as its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to take it.
Moving heavy equipment quickly
Naval News said that it was possible though unlikely that the barges were being built for civilian or commercial purposes.
“The construction of so many, much larger than similar civilian vessels seen before, makes this implausible,” it said.
“These vessels are only suited to moving large amounts of heavy equipment ashore in a short period of time. They appear greatly over-spec for civilian uses,” the publication reported.
The Association of Strategic Foresight’s Chieh said China has been practicing a concept of “military-civil fusion” meaning they would be used by the military if needed.
“You can see in their recent exercises that they’ve mobilized roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, which are commercial vessels only during peacetime. So regardless of whether these ships were ordered by the military, they will inevitably be requisitioned for military use in times of war,” he said.
“Through civil-military fusion, China primarily aims to address the military’s limited capacity for transporting large amounts of cargo in a single operation, so it mobilizes a significant number of civilian maritime vessels to increase tonnage,” Chieh explained.
Hunzeker said Taiwan should not underestimate China’s ability to employ its military and civilian assets as part of a broader coercive strategy that includes so-called gray-zone tactics to achieve its objectives without triggering open conflict.
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But such tactics were not the most critical threat facing Taiwan.
“The CCP cannot realize its overarching objective like achieving political control over Taiwan via gray zone provocations alone,” he said. “Thus, Taipei and Washington need to prioritize the real threat: a large-scale military attack on Taiwan.”
Chieh also noted the barges did not signal an imminent invasion.
In the event of an invasion, the barges would only be deployed after the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, was able to successfully land and secure a beachhead, he said.
“Deploying civilian ships depends largely on the success of the PLA’s successful landing,” he said, meaning Taiwan’s key focus would be on repelling an initial assault.
Hunzeker shares a similar view.
“I would not interpret these barges as a signal that an invasion is imminent, if for no other reason than the fact that five barges will neither fundamentally change the military balance nor give the PLA a decisive military advantage,” Hunzeker said.
The U.S. Department of Defense maintains that China lacks sufficient amphibious shipping to invade the island of 23 million people, he added.
Edited by Taejun Kang.