War, if and when it comes, could begin with Chinese bombers barrelling toward Taiwan like they did on Saturday.
Three days after President Joe Biden took office, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force sortied a powerful formation of new H-6K bombers toward Taiwan. The same day, the U.S. Navy sailed the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and her escorts into the South China Sea. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. The bombers—which are compatible with YJ-12 anti-ship missiles—were training for strikes on carriers such as Roosevelt, Chinese state media explained. But in probing Taiwan’s air-defense identification zone, the twin-engine bombers also were preparing for an equally important role—lobbing missiles at Taiwanese forces in preparation for an amphibious assault on the island. “Reunifiying” Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is the central goal of China’s foreign policy. As Taiwan is a fully independent democracy, there’s no realistic prospect of the two countries peacefully merging. When officials in Beijing use the term “reunification,” they’re really talking about war. And that war, if and when it comes, could begin with Chinese bombers barreling toward Taiwan like they did Saturday. In that sense, the weekend’s sortie was a dress rehearsal. “It does demonstrate the PLAAF’s ability to put together a multi-plane strike, which we would likely see in the event of a hot war against Taiwan,” said Bernard Cole, a professor at the National War College in Washington, D.C. The scale of Saturday’s bomber sortie is noteworthy. Eight of the 108-foot-wingspan bombers flew toward Taiwan’s southwest air-defense zone. Four J-16 fighters protected the bombers.
